Finding comfort in the baker's son
by DrWandel
Summary: More than seven years prior to the 74th Hunger Games, Peeta's oldest brother Rye meets Primrose and her family. Everlark is going to happen in the background, but the main story is about Rye and Prim. Starts close to canon, but rebellion will be somewhat different. The story, including the games, is entirely told from Rye's point of view.
1. Chapter 1 - The train incident

**Finding comfort in the baker's son**

Disclaimer: The 'Hunger Games' trilogy and the characters therein are owned by Suzanne Collins. My compliments and thanks to her for writing the books, and I admit to using the book background and characters in this story. Any errors I make by not describing the characters as well and properly as in the books are mine alone.

_[Author's Notes: The story starts more than seven years prior to the start of the canon, when Katniss is nine years old and Primrose five. An incident makes Peeta's oldest brother Rye, who is fifteen years old at the beginning of the story, meet Primrose and her family; they grow to be good friends, and Rye helps Prim to survive the horror of watching cruel Hunger Games. Everlark is going to happen in the background, but the main story is about Rye and Prim. The 74__th__ Hunger Games with Katniss and Peeta will be covered from an outside/district point of view, but close to canon, although I allow myself some liberties. Later on, moving towards the rebellion, things will deviate further from the books. For instance, as Prim is one of my main characters, she will not die, and district 12 will probably not be destroyed, at least not entirely. This is my first attempt on a canon like Hunger Games fanfiction story; for the time being at least, I will try to keep each chapter between 3000 and 5000 words.]_

**Chapter 1: The train incident**

_[Spring in the year of the 68__th__ Hunger Games]_

On a sunny afternoon in spring I helped Dad to pull our cart towards the train station of district 12. School was over for the day, and a train was expected to arrive; it was supposed to bring some deliveries for our bakery, mostly tools and ingredients we could not get in our own district. Rain had fallen last night, and the path was somewhat slippery. While the temperature was comfortable enough, humidity was high, and everything was quite wet, including the platform. Nevertheless I appreciated the opportunity to get out and around and help my father, even as we got our boots dirty and had to be careful not to slip on some wet patches on the unpaved ground.

Of course the train from the Capitol was not on time, as usual, and while we waited, a dark voice called a 'Good Morning!' in our direction. Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games and, as far as I knew, the only winner from our district ever, staggered in our direction, a bottle in his hand. Judging from the smell which wavered around him, he had been drinking again, a lot.

"Mr. Abernathy", my Dad greeted him, "why don't you go to your comfortable home and try to sleep a little?"

"Yes, indeed", he replied, "maybe I should do this".

However, when he turned to walk back towards his plush home in the district's Victory Village, he stumbled and almost feel hard to the ground, if my father had not caught him in time. He attempted to mumble some kind of thanks before he finally and slowly disappeared. Seeing and smelling him confirmed my conviction to not consume alcoholic drinks if I could help it. I knew that my mother sometimes drank, and frequently she tried to hit me or one of my brothers after she had imbibed. I could not resist the temptation to ask my father:

"Do you know why Haymitch almost always drinks? I don't think that I have seen him completely sober more than once or twice a year..."

"Son", my father replied, "he won the second Quarter Quell, the 50th Hunger games, almost 20 years ago. At that time I was too young to fully understand what happened, but there are rumors that was devastated by all of the killing in the arena, specifically when the female tribute from our district, Maysilee Donner, came to die. In addition, and this is most likely the main cause, most of his family and his girlfriend were killed in an accident not long after the games. Some claim that President Snow did not like some of his actions he performed in the arena and arranged the accident. Finally, it is probably quite frustrating to mentor tributes each year, just to see them being killed each year, being mentor is probably not as glamorous as some think."

Wow, hearing that I got a quite different view of Haymitch. I had always thought of him as a poor old man who is too weak to stop drinking, but if all of this really happened, he had all reasons to drink, I guessed.

Today we only had to wait about half an hour fore the train to arrive, which was better than average. Sometimes it was delayed by days, when some repair work had to be done either in the train itself or on the tracks. If the Capitol did not need our coal so much, they probably would not bother sending trains at all. As it was, trains mainly arrived to pick up coal, and not always to bring much needed food and other merchandise to the district. Particularly in winter, food was sometimes rare, as we did not have many chances to grow crops; most food had to be brought in from other districts. A few district residents had livestock like hens or goats, but not enough by far to sustain the entire population.

When we could see the train approaching in the distance, I could finally stop thinking about Haymitch, as Dad and I slowly moved along the platform towards the area which usually had the freight cars; Dad mumbled something about the goods we expected. A group of people passed us, including some children; an arriving train was always an opportunity for gawking. Two teenage boys in that group were apparently fighting about something, and one of the boys moved backwards to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, a little girl was passing right behind him, jumping excitedly just ahead of what I suspected to be her mother, and the boy's move pushed the girl from the platform down to the tracks. I was just a couple of meters away and saw the train approaching, while the woman behind the girl started to scream; the little girl was lying down across the tracks, looking injured. As I knew exactly that the train would never be able to stop in time and was going to kill or at least maim her within less than five seconds, I jumped down next to her, scooped her up in my arms, and vaulted to the other side of the tracks on the grass there. The train slowed down behind me, passing behind us quite close, but the girl was safe for now.

A couple of minutes later, some peacekeepers had reached us, including Darius, who was one of the most youngest and friendly ones. He asked if we were okay, and I told him that it looked like the young girl had hurt her ankle or foot. She had briefly looked at me, but fainted when I had carried her off. We did not have something like an official doctor or a district hospital, but Darius suggested:

"Look, the young girl is Primrose Everdeen, youngest daughter of the Everdeens, and Mrs. Everdeen is some kind of healer. I think it would be best to get her to her mother's house; maybe you could carry her there, as you look quite strong?"

While I appreciated the comment on my strength – despite my age of only fifteen years, I had reached above average tallness, and the work in the bakery plus sports and wrestling at school had toned my muscles – I knew that Dad needed my help, and thus I pleaded:

"I would love to, but Dad needs my help to unload the goods for the bakery. You know that the train isn't going to wait..."

He replied: "Don't worry, Ryan; I will send a couple of my colleagues to help out right away, and they'll also tell your father about your current obligations."

I shrugged and nodded; obviously I did not have much of a choice. Easily I picked up the girl again in my arms and followed Darius around the train, until we reached the end of the platform on the other side. The girl's mother waited there and was very much relieved to see her daughter. Darius introduced us:

"Ryan, this is Mrs. Everdeen, mother to Primrose Everdeen. Mrs. Everdeen, this is Ryan Mellark, oldest son of Mr. Mellark, the baker. He was in a position to save your daughter, and except for a sprained ankle or so she seems to be unhurt; probably just fainted. If you agree, Mrs. Everdeen, Ryan volunteers to take your daughter back to your home."

Despite the kind words I knew that this was not a question, but an order, and although I had not really volunteered, I obeyed. Okay, I did not really mind, knowing that Darius would keep his promise to send help to Dad for unloading, and thus I slowly followed Mrs. Everdeen. I had not walked this far into the Seam for quite some time, and soon I did not really know the houses and the people any longer. In one of the poorer areas, even on the Seam scale, the woman entered a small house and waved me in; I was directed to carefully lower the girl to the couch there.

Before Mrs. Everdeen started to examine her daughter in detail, she turned around to me and said: "Mr. Mellark, I have not had a chance yet to say this, so now is the time: Thank you very much for saving my daughter Primrose. What you did was very brave and altruistic; few Merchant people would have done something like that for a Seam girl."

"Mrs. Everdeen", I replied, "I would have done the same for every person. In addition, I did not know that she was a Seam girl, and I did not have time to look closely. And if you don't mind me saying this, both you and your daughter do not really look like Seam."

This was true – both of them had blue eyes, blond hair, and light skin, the daughter's skin a few shades darker, whereas most Seam residents had darker, olive colored skin, very dark hair, and brown or grey eyes. Since Seam and Merchant rarely wed outside of their 'class', mixes were not common at all.

Mrs. Everdeen smiled and replied: "Yes, we are Seam, and why we look different is a story for another day. Before I check my daughter, let me please invite you to lunch for next Sunday. My husband will also want to meet you, and he is working in the mines."

Of course her husband would be working in the mines, as almost all Seam men did. As Seam men rarely were accepted into positions in the Merchant area, this was the one job open to them. I nodded and thanked Mrs. Everdeen for her invitation, confirming that I was going to accept and come on Sunday. I added that I was going to bring desert, and although she tried to refuse, I insisted.

Before I left, Mrs. Everdeen asked: "You are the oldest son of Jacob Mellark, right?"

When I agreed, she nodded and mumbled: "Yes, no mistake; you seem to be as kind as your father is."

Before I could ask how she meant that and how she knew my father – I could not recall her to be a customer in the bakery, or at least not a regular one – she sent me off, claiming that she needed to have a closer look at her daughter now. I had some trouble finding my way back, but I managed and eventually got back to the bakery. My father had already unloaded the cart there and was happy that I could go back to the station with him for the second load, which he had temporarily placed close to the platform. As he had seen what I had done to save the girl, he put his hands on my shoulder, and said: "My son, your act on the platform was brave and smart acting – I am quite proud of you!"

While we walked, I told him about Mrs. Everdeen and the invitation, and he said: "Ah yes, Mabel. Let me make sure that we have some fine desert you can take with you on Sunday."

'Mabel'? He was on first name basis with her? I guess that I'd want to ask him about this later on. For now, I only asked Dad if we had received everything we had ordered, and he smiled: "Son, of course not – that would have been a first. However, we got most of what we need to get along. How much I wish we could go into the forest beyond the fence and pick some more berries, or have large fields to grow our own crops!"

Hearing that I asked: "Why don't they move the fence some way into the forest to give us more options?"

My father shook his head: "I do not know, son. I have asked the mayor a couple of times, but he told me that they needed to keep wild animals out of the district and could not move the fence. So far I have not seen many wild animals close to the fence, but maybe they are further out."

On Sunday morning I was about to sleep in; all homework for school was done, and I did not have to work a shift in the bakery today. However, long before I expected, my father entered my room and suggested to step down into the bakery to look into what I was going to bring to the Everdeens for desert. I was quite curious about that:

"Dad, why can't I just take some leftover pastries and cupcakes?"

His reply was stern: "Son, I know that your mother would disapprove and not share my sentiment, but she is not in right now, and for such an invitation we bakers do better. I will explain some day when you are older, but you are going to take some of our best."

With this being said, he packed a selection of our best pastries and a few slices of cake, and he told me to not forget to say that this was sent with baker's best compliments. He also insisted to dress 'properly', well at least more properly that what I had planned to wear. I knew better to resist and just did what he asked.

Earlier than I had planned I found myself slowly walking towards the Seam, carrying a big pack of the 'baker's best'. I was not quite sure what to expect, and I had probably not dined in a Seam house before. My father had warned me that they were poor and did not have a lot of things we considered normal. I should know show myself concerned about a lack of proper utensils or maybe mediocre quality of food.

"It is quite possible", he had said just before I left, "that they will offer you their best and need to stretch their food for the rest of the week. This is one of the reasons for bringing pastries and such, and I am glad that you insisted on doing that."

With mixed feelings, due to the warnings my father had give me, I finally approached the Everdeen house. Just when I was about to step on the porch, a little whirlwind of a girl stepped out, and before I had a chance to react, she jumped into my arms. I finally moved my arms to hold her, but she had already wrapped her skinny arms around my neck and her legs around my waist to hold tight. Smiling at me she just said: "Ryan, you are my savior. Thank you so much!"

Now I recognized her as the girl I had recused a few days ago from being maimed or even killed by the train. Feeling her in my arms like this and hearing her words almost made me cry, as I was not used to such a kind of affection, and I replied: "Primrose, you are very much welcome. I am glad to see that you are not really hurt, and I am happy to properly make your acquaintance."

The girl responded: "Please call me Prim – all of my friends do. Although, I was hurt a little bit; I sprained my ankle when falling on the tracks, and that's why I was not quick enough to get away in time on my own. But I am fine again now."

I smiled and replied: "All right – you can call me 'Rye', as my friends do."

Prim smiled and begged: "Great, Rye – come in now, please!"

Inside, with the girl on my arms, I was very warmly greeted by Mrs. Everdeen and her husband. Contrary to her, he looked very much Seam, with darker skin, black hair, and grey eyes. Another girl was next to them, and she was introduced as Katniss, Prim's older sister. She was not talking much at all, but Prim compensated for that, with her mouth being busy almost all of the time. Her mother interjected:

"Prim, please give our guest a chance to also participate in the conversation!"

When Prim suddenly stopped talking, I admitted: "Well, I am not much of a talker anyway, and I am quite happy to listen to Primrose talking."

"You are? Really?" Prim looked up at me, apparently finding this hard to believe, but smiling nonetheless.

"Yes, I am, really" I nodded. "I like your voice, and I don't mind to listen to you talking at all."

Before Prim could start another flow of words, Mr. Everdeen cleared his throat and said:

"Mr. Mellark, although my wife has already said so, please also accept my thanks for your deed and your bravery. We are in your debt, and please enjoy your lunch with us."

"Mr. Everdeen", I responded, "saving a life when you are in a position to do so should not create a debt. As your daughter seems to enjoy talking to me, maybe you might allow her to visit me in the bakery from time to time. I do not have a sister, and if she started to admire my daily work there, I might come to enjoy this a lot. Further, please call me 'Ryan' - 'Mr. Mellark' is my father, and I feel old being called like this. Finally, my father specifically asked me to bring this bag of pastries, and I am supposed to emphasize that they are 'with the baker's best greetings'."

I noticed that Mrs. Everdeen blushed a little at my last words, but maybe that was just my imagination. Lunch was now served by Mrs. Everdeen and Katniss, and I was surprised to find out that the meat being served was quite good; it tasted somewhat like game, and it was prepared in a delicious way. My father's warning about the food potentially being of poor quality was not justified at all, and I did not hesitate to compliment Mrs. Everdeen on the meal.

After dinner I handed out the pastries and slices of cake I had brought. Katniss appeared somewhat hesitating helping herself, but Prim had no such concerns and indulged herself, still trying to talk while eating, until her mother stopped her saying that this was impolite behavior.

When we were done with eating, I asked if anybody was interested to visit the bakery any time soon, and Prim was the first to jump up and nod. Her sister seemed to be interested as well at first, but quickly replaced her smile with a scowl, declining the offer. Mrs. Everdeen suggested that she could bring Prim around soon, but she hesitated somewhat, saying:

"I am sorry to mention that, Mr. Mellark, and I do not intend my remark to be an offense, but your mother does not like our family very much. I am afraid that she will be angry if I show up at the bakery. It might be better with Prim as she is a child and your mother does not know her, but you still need to be careful."

I nodded and responded: "Yes, I know that my mother is quite prejudiced against Seam residents, but she is the only one in our family. If she speaks up against Prim, my father and I will not tolerate this, please be assured of that. What about that: Wednesday is a short day for me at school, and I usually spend an hour or two in the bakery in the afternoon. I could pick up Prim here at your home after school, take her to our place, spend some time with her in the bakery, and bring her back home before dusk – would that be all right with you?"

Mrs. Everdeen looked at her husband, and I saw him slowly nodding; both of them agreed, and I had a date with Prim for Wednesday. After shaking hands with everybody I finally left for my walk home. Well, this Sunday had sure been different from others before, and maybe I had just found new friends. Contrary to most of my 'Merchant' friends at school, who mostly looked down at 'Seam' students and people in general and tried to minimize contact with them, my father had raised my brothers and me in a different way, although my mother did not agree, and soon this might be put to the test. If or when the other 'Merchant' students at school realized that I was meeting a 'Seam' girl, even such a young one, I was likely to find myself the target of severe teasing, at the very least. But I owed it to my education and to my own convictions to not give this expectation a chance to make me deviate from my plans.

_[Author's Note: Please do let me know what you think about it so far! Also, please do not hesitate to let me know if something is inconsistent or so.]_


	2. Chapter 2 - The bakery incident

**Chapter 2: The bakery incident**

_[Spring in the year of the 68__th__ Hunger Games]_

Somehow I found myself thinking of Prim and her family quite frequently during lessons at school on the following days. The Everdeens were a strange family; father and older daughter had the typical Seam features with dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes, whereas mother and younger daughter had Merchant features with blonde hair, light skin, and blue eyes. Prim was very outgoing and charming and talked and smiled a lot, whereas her older sister usually wore a scowl and did not talk much at all, at least as far as I had observed so far. I did not believe that two sisters could be much more different from each other, but they seemed to be happy together, and none of them had complained about their mediocre living conditions. Well, nobody in the entire district lived in anything which could even remotely called luxury and abundance, of course, expect those in the Victors' Village – at this time, only Haymitch – and, to some extent, the Undersee family.

At school, some of my classmates did not fail to notice that I was lost in my thoughts a few times, and my best friend Tyler teased me about that: "Rye, have you finally found a girl to think about?"

My friends were sometimes making fun of me as most of them already had girlfriends, and some of them had the second or third one already; a few of them even seemed to have a different girlfriend every other week or so. My middle brother Wheat was rumored to have a secret girlfriend at his tender age of 12; he was not telling much as he was really too young, and he was afraid that our parents might find out and stopping this early on. On the other hand I was not known to have a special one at all; so far, not a single girl had caught my interest. Well, now actually I had, in a manner of speaking, but not in the way they had in mind, and I responded: "Tyler, even if I did, I would not tell you guys about it."

"Come on", my best friend Tyler replied, "have you been to the Slag Heap yet?"

Naturally he assumed that I was thinking about a girl close to my own age. I grinned, knowing quite well that the 'Slag Heap' was used by teenagers a lot for hidden kisses, hugs, and more. I had actually never been there with a girl, but was not ready to admit that, and thus said: "Not saying!"

Tyler pouted: "Rye, you are a real spoilsport today!"

I tried to change topics: "Come on, let's walk over to the sports area for wrestling. I have invited my youngest brother, Peeta, today. Coach wants to see if he is built for wrestling, too."

Since a few years ago I had been one of the best junior wrestlers at school, and Peeta had recently shown some interest as well. District administration in the Justice Building had officially endorsed wrestling at school, and of course they were interested in getting strong young men for working the coal mines. It turned out that the coach liked what Peeta demonstrated, and he asked him to come to our weekly training from now on.

I had started to do wrestling at about Peeta's age, when I had noticed that working in the bakery was demanding and required a lot of physical strength, not only for lifting and carrying bags of ingredients around, but also for tasks like mixing and kneading large amounts of dough. We had heard that there were machines powered by electricity helping with that, but we could not really afford to buy one of those; even merchants weren't as rich as some Seam people assumed us to be. In addition, electrical power in our district was very unreliable and sometimes not available for days or even weeks at a time. The only periods of time when electrical power was consistently and reliably available seemed to be the mandatory viewing sessions during the games.

Finally, school was out on Wednesday, and I had not forgotten to pick up Prim today. Thus I deviated from my normal way home and rather than walking towards the bakery building, which had our living accommodations on the upper floor, I walked right into the Seam. Contrary to my usual way home, I paid more attention to my environment, as I had not been in the Seam frequently before. I noticed people looking at me with wary eyes and houses being much smaller than the Merchant ones; in addition, most buildings were wooden rather made of stone. Some houses had small pens around for goats or hen and some rabbits, and the roads were badly maintained. Nature had reclaimed part of the environment, and plants and houses almost seemed to have some kind of symbiosis with each other in some places. If I was truthful to myself, this area somehow looked warmer than the Merchant quarter.

When I approached the Everdeen home, Prim was already out on the porch and started to wave and smile when she saw me. I greeted her with a smile of my own, and Prim started to babble while fidgeting:

"I am so glad that you did not forget me. You know, if was not sure if you would really come today. I mean you said you would, but I still did not know. I could understand if you would not want to meet with me after all, as we are Seam, but I was so hoping you'd come, and well, you are here now, and..."

I was surprised about myself that I did not only not mind her babbling, but even enjoyed listening to her talking like that. However, she did not get a chance to continue that for long, as Mrs. Everdeen came out and stopped her:

"Prim, stop talking for a moment, and let me say hello to our guest, too."

She turned to me and also greeted me, saying: "If Prim is talking too much, do not hesitate to bring her back right away! And now, off with you, and have fun at the bakery!"

Prim and I started walking towards the Merchant quarter, and Prim actually managed to stay quiet for a few minutes, probably with her mother's words in mind. When we crossed the unofficial border, the houses were larger and better maintained, and we passed a few shops, such as the butchery and the shoemaker. Prim stopped at both for a moment to look into the shopfront windows before getting back to my side. Only once we got close to the bakery she carefully started talking again, somewhat subdued:

"Are you really going to bring me back when I talk too much?"

"Well", I replied, "I guess that I will do that, yes. However, the question is about my definition of 'too much', and maybe we will have to find out what the limit is."

"But how would I know about that?" Prim was showing her concern.

"Don't worry" I told her, "I will let you know before we get there."

My reply visibly helped and she was looking happy again, when we finally entered the bakery through the back door. My father was there and smiled at our visitor:

"Welcome to the Mellark bakery, young lady. I hope that you like it here, and that my son is polite towards you. If he isn't, just let me know about it and I'll take care of the situation."

"Oh" Prim had her mouth open now. She had clearly not expected such a warm welcome, and she probably was not used to being called a 'lady': "Sure – thank you!"

First I took Prim to the front room, where we sold our merchandise. At this time, no customers were in, so that we could take our time. My brother Wheat was behind the counter and also greeted Prim:

"Hi Prim, I am William, but my friends call me 'Wheat'. Good to see you, and I hope that my older brother behaves and does not drag you to the Slag Heap when he gets a chance!"

"What is the Slag Heap?" Prim inquired innocently.

Wheat started laughing and I just told Prim that she really did not want to know. Why did brothers always have to be so embarrassing?

Hearing the laughter, my mother came down the stairs and stepped into the front room. First she started to admonish us about the laughter, and asked if we did not have any work to do. Then she noticed Prim and asked about her. I introduced her properly and politely as Primrose Everdeen, and my mother started to rant:

"What, you dare to bring a child from the Seam here into our bakery? I do not want any Seam sluts here, and..."

At this point I interrupted: "Mom, please do not use words like that. She is an invited guest, and father knows that she is here and approves. She has a right to be here, and we do not discriminate against Seam residents in our bakery!"

My mother did not really want to listen:

"Ryan Mellark, do you dare to tell me what I am supposed to allow? You are my son and will do as I say – throw the Seam slut out right now!

"Mum" I objected, "I will certainly not do this. Primrose is an invited and valued guest!"

Prim was getting scared; she got a little pale and started to hide behind the counter. My mother now got really angry; she picked up a rolling pin and advanced towards me, raising her weapon and trying to hit me. Wheat ran out to get Dad, knowing that my mother's intention was to hit me hard. She had done so in the past for quite a few years, but some time ago I had stopped just accepting my fate, as I was more than strong enough to counter her attacks. When the rolling pin was just above her head and she wanted to swing her arm forward and down, I quickly stepped to the side and grabbed her arm, so that she could not move it any longer. I sternly said:

"Mom, we can always talk and I am ready to listen to arguments, but you are not hitting me any longer – this is going to stop!"

Mother struggled in vain, and now father was coming in. He saw the rolling pin and threatened his wife: "Larissa, stop doing that. I will not tolerate physical violence against my sons any longer. And Rye is absolutely right – Primrose Everdeen is an invited guest in our home and the bakery. You can either accept that or leave!"

Mother realized that she could not pursue her point any further at this time and ran out, hurrying upstairs for now. Father addressed Primrose: "Young lady, my apologies for my wife's behavior. I will try to make sure that it does not happen again, but rest assured that you are always welcome here, and Ryan should be able to protect you if my wife should forget herself again."

Prim was now coming out of from behind the counter, clinging to me, still looking scared. I suggested: "Hey, Prim, would you like to actually bake something?"

Hearing that her face started to lighten up again, and she nodded.

"Well", I said, "what about cupcakes – they do not need much preparation. Let's start getting the ingredients."

This being said, we moved to the big back room, found an empty counter, and I brought the ingredients forward. Seeing that we only had very little flour left, I walked to the storage room and carried a big 50kg flour sack into the bakery. Prim paled a little when she saw that and asked:

"How come you can carry such a big sack and make it look easy?"

I smiled and had to admit to myself that it was a good feeling to have one's strength admired by a girl, even by a very young one. I proudly answered:

"That's all training and exercise. When you start working here in young years and have to carry stuff around all of the time, plus when you are active in sports like wrestling at school, muscles just build up. I guess that this also happens with most coal miners."

I was not so sure about the latter, actually. While I had seen some strong miners, most of them did not have that many muscles. Properly they did not have access to proper nourishment – mine wasn't the best either, but probably better than what most Seam people had.

When the basic ingredients for the cupcakes were in a big bowl and need to be mixed, I asked Prim:

"Would you like to do the mixing, Prim?"

She smiled and nodded; I got a high stool for her to sit on, and she started stirring. Naturally, this was slow progress, as her strength was by far not sufficient, but she tried nonetheless. A few minutes later she started to sweat and gasped:

"This is more strenuous than I thought; how much more stirring and mixing does this dough need?"

I relieved her and replied:

"A lot more, actually. Some people believe that being a baker is a fun job and easy. Yes, it can be fun, and I certainly prefer it over coal mining, but it is a demanding job as well and requires strength and stamina at least for some tasks."

Before I continued the stirring, I picked up Prim and placed her to sit on the countertop to watch further. Quarter of an hour later the dough was ready to be filled into the baking pans, and this was something I again allowed Prim to do. She worked slowly and carefully, but she managed, and when she had filled one baking pan, I quickly completed the others. I had prepared as many trays as I could fit into the oven and moved the pans into the oven now, carefully avoiding to touch the hot areas.

Now we needed to wait for twenty minutes or so, and Prim said that it looked like I knew exactly what I was doing here. I laughed and replied:

"You know, I started working here almost ten years ago, when I was little older than you are now. I should really better know what I am doing. However, for me this is just some work, whereas for my youngest brother Peeta this is a calling and hobby as well. Despite his young age he has already surpassed Dad in decorating cakes, and he really is a born baker."

I did not mind at all telling her that Peeta was the best. Despite his age of just nine years, father and I already knew that he was a dedicated baker and that he was eventually going to be better than all of us together. Normally I'd expect to inherit the bakery at a later time, but I already knew that Peeta should really get it, and I was prepared to find another occupation.

We continued to chat for some time, when finally the time was over and I pulled the baking pans out of the oven, placing them on the counter. Carefully removing each cupcake from the pans, each was was placed into a small paper cup and on a tray; most of the cupcakes would be available for sale in the afternoon, and we hoped that we could sell them all. Four of them, though, I placed into a small paper bag, handed the bag to Prim and said:

"Let's put this bag on the side; this is for you to bring to your family when you go home later on – one for each in the family!"

Prim asked: "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am" I said. "Those are yours for sure!"

Prim beamed and jumped into my arms, hugging me. I had to admit that I started to like and enjoy her affectionate behavior; this was almost like getting a little sister. Now we could see the sun getting lower, and I walked a happy Prim back to her home, where her mother awaited us. Mrs. Everdeen was also quite happy to learn that Prim had had a wonderful time at the bakery. I decided to use the opportunity to ask a question which bothered me a little:

"If you don't mind me asking, Mrs. Everdeen, how come that you simply allowed your daughter to come to the bakery with me? Most Seam people I have met so far seem to be somewhat reluctant to mingle with merchants and wouldn't even allow their children to play with merchant children?"

"I understand that question well", Mrs. Everdeen replied, "and I might think like that as well, but, you see, I was born as a Merchant and married into the Seam. Since I got married, our family has always tried to not enforce that artificial division into Seam and Merchant. That is, Katniss thinks different, I have to admit."

Over the next weeks and months Prim and I saw each other quite a few times. I made it a habit to pick her up every other week or so, usually on Wednesdays. Sometimes we worked in the bakery, and a few times we watched my youngest brother Peeta decorating a cake. When a particular big and delicious cake was prepared, Prim almost drooled and said:

"You are so lucky that you can eat cake every day!"

I chuckled and told her: "Prim, this cake is not for us, but it has been ordered by Mayor Undersee for a family celebration. Our family rarely gets to eat what we bake, and mostly it is leftovers or what we fail to sell. Our bakers' life is not as glamorous as it looks at all!"

Sometimes Prim also went up to my room with me and watched me doing my homework for school. I found a few old picturebooks in a closet and got them out for her, and she spent hours browsing them, lying on my bed or on the floor while I was focusing on homework at my desk. Sometimes she asked about items shown in the books, and she was specifically curious about plants and animals. When I noticed that, I went over to Peeta and asked him if he had his basic book on plants around which they had used in the first few years in school, and he dug it out from a heap of books in one of this cupboards. The book was called 'Panem Flora Illustrated'; it showed plants in multiple districts, including ours, and had many illustrations. When I brought it over to Prim, she was almost enthusiastic, and I was happy to let her know that she could browse the book anytime she came to visit me.

Prim being a visitor at the bakery was becoming a regular event a few times a month, and although my mother tried to intervene a few times, I was always able to stop her without getting anybody hurt.

On a particularly nice early summer day I packed stuff for a picnic, like water and juice, sandwiches, bread and a few pastries, and of course a blanket. I had learned from Mrs. Everdeen that today, May 11th, was Prim's birthday, and I wanted to make that day a special one for her. There was going to be a celebration at home in the evening, when Mr. Everdeen was going to be home from the mines, and I had been granted permission to take Prim out in the early afternoon.

After picking up Prim from her home, I just picked up the prepared picnic basket from my room and guided her to a nice meadow Peeta and I had found some time ago. He came here frequently to draw and do sketches, and I joined him sometimes to either relax or read a book. Peeta was already here, taking advantage of the nice and sunny day and using his color pens on a larger canvas today. Prim saw him draw for the first time, and she was quite in awe seeing how good he already was, at his tender age of 10 years. As a matter of fact, his drawing skills were much better than his writing; his handwriting was beautiful, but spelling and grammar lacked somewhat.

When we were all settled and had the blanket spread out on the grass, Peeta and I wished Prim a 'Happy 6th Birthday'. Peeta gave her a small sketchbook with a few drawings of him, showing some houses and plants in the district, including one portrait of her. I had a small bowl with primrose flowers for her, and a few small pieces of sweets were hidden between them. Prim was happy about both presents and smiled widely; it did not take very much to make her happy – she was such a sweet and lovable girl.

Afterwards I distributed the food on the blanket, and soon all three of us were happily eating and drinking. Peeta and Prim soon also chatted about various topics, and I was glad to see that they also liked each other. Later on, Peeta got back to his drawing, and Prim, getting curious, asked him about particular colors. Peeta patiently answered her questions, and finally the young girl asked:

"Peeta, if you were to paint my face in full color, which color would you use for my eyes?"

I looked up, considering that an odd question, but Peeta nodded and replied, while closely looking into her eyes:

"This is actually a very good question. You have blue eyes, but they have a shade of green, too; I would call that almost turquoise. Thus I would have to use a mix of mostly light blue and a little bit of green."

Prim nodded and told us: "Yes, when I look into a mirror, I also think that my eyes have a little bit of green in them. Thank you, Peeta, for confirming that."

I had to admit that I had not realized that; I had considered her eyes to be just blue. On the other hand, I had not really been looking as close as Peeta just had, and he had a perfect sense for colors.

Later on, when Peeta had left for home already, I took advantage of the big blanket to rest, lie down, and watch the sky and the few clouds. Prim placed herself next to me, so that I could feel her warm body touching mine, and she said:

"Being here in this meadow is really nice. You can almost forget the daily trouble and the Hunger Games and all of that. Rye, did you know that I have had occasional nightmares about the incident at the train station?"

"No, I did not know – bad ones?" I was somewhat surprised about her sudden change of topic.

"Yes and no" Prim replied. "They always start bad of course, make me falling down on the tracks. I see the train coming closer and closer. My legs refuse to move and I realize that I am going to die. Suddenly you come, I see your face for a very short moment, and just before I faint in the dream and wake up I know that everything is fine."

"I understand that this is quite some memory you need to carry around with you" I replied, "and I hope that the dreams get better with time."

"They do get less frequent, yes" she told me, "but the main point is that I always wake up feeling happy, because the last part of the dream is always getting rescued by you."

I was unsure on how to respond to that and thus tried to make some kind of joke: "I am honored to be of service in your dreams!"

Prim laughed and said: "Yes, and I am glad that you're not just in my dreams, too!"

We chatted a little more, and just before it was time to leave, I suggested: "Tell you what – when you are in school and the day is nice and warm, we can sometimes meet here and do our homework together – what do you think? Would you like that?"

Prim beamed and nodded, so that her braids were jumping up and down: "Yes, I would like that a lot!"

_[Author's Notes: In my story Prim looks more like in the books, with light blonde hair rather than light brown in the movies, and blue eyes – the slightly turquoise like eye color is my idea. I also imagine her to be quite skinny, mostly due to lack of proper nourishment. The book 'Panem Flora Illustrated' is a reference to the book 'Tamriel Flora Illustrated', which is part of the 'Vilja' mods for the 'TES IV: Oblivion' and 'TES V: Skyrim' computer games.]_


	3. Chapter 3 - The school incident

**Chapter 3: The school incident**

_[Summer and autumn in the year of the 68__th__ Hunger Games]_

School was about to end once again in early summer, and at the end of summer I was going to start my third last school year – I was supposed to graduate in three years, at the age of 18. Three more years of learning, and then I had to think about getting a job. Well, I had already thought about that, of course, and although my strength should have suggested to go into the mines, I did not want to pursue this, as pay was poor and working conditions bad – many miners died young, either from severe injuries caused by accidents or by lung diseases. I had already started to talk to some merchants and I had also left a job application letter at the Mayor's office – he was recently looking for some kind of administration assistant, including a potential intern. Although I was hoping for a job where I could spent at least some time outside and not only doing office work, this was still something to be considered. I could also work in the bakery full time for a few years before a better opportunity came up, so that I was not feeling under pressure at all and could take my time to ponder options and opportunities.

Although all students were looking forward towards the end of the school year, the main event which always took place at the start of the summer holiday loomed – a couple of days after the last day of school the tributes for the annual Hunger Games were to be selected. Everybody who was at least 12 years old and not older than 18 years old could be chosen. Some family was going to lose their son, and another family was going to lose their daughter. Chances for a tribute from our district to win the games were practically nonexistent, and only once in known history this had happened, with Haymitch Abernathy winning the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell.

Anyway, the day after the school year ended the tribute train arrived, and with it came the escort for our district. This year we got a new one, I had heard, but they were only going to present themselves just prior to the tribute lottery on the next day – this day was 'Reaping Day'.

On the tribute selection day, a stage had been erected in front of the Justice Building, as usual. All eligible children were dressed their best, in case their names were drawn, and I walked to the section for the 15 year old ones together with my friend Tyler, who was the oldest son of the district's metalworker. Within the next minutes, all sections filled up, with the older children in the front rows and the young ones further back, and most children were showing some kind of anxiety. District residents not in reaping age, mainly the adults, needed to watch the procedure from the areas around the potential tributes, and peacekeepers made sure that everybody came, sometimes even searching individual homes.

A quarter of an hour later a young lady appeared on stage. She looked odd and 'Capitol like', with her hair color almost purple and very strange and colorful clothes. With a weird Capitol accent she welcomed all of us, introduced herself as Effie Trinket, and spoke a few minutes on topics we really did not care about and we did not believe in anyway. She talked about the 'honor to be chosen and to be part of the games' and the importance of the games, and she called this day a 'big, big day'. She finally opened the reaping procedure with the traditional words:

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

Starting with the females, names were picked from two glass bowls, and the names proudly and loudly read by Effie Trinket. Ten minutes later almost all of us could breathe again, and only two unlucky kids were now shown on stage, a 17 year old boy and a 14 year old girl, both from the Seam. I knew neither of them, and although I felt pity for their families, I was quite relieved that no Mellark had been drawn. Of course, as many Seam kids needed to register for tesserae which multiplied the number of slips they had in the bowl, the chances for them getting reaped were much higher than for us merchants, but you never knew for sure.

Effie Trinket concluded the reaping with a final sentence:

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

and we were all free to go again.

In the coming weeks, my family and I only participated in the mandatory viewing, seeing the tribute presentations hosted by a weird man called 'Caesar Flickerman' and the start of the games. As usual, our tributes were out soon, although the boy lasted a little longer than we expected. Nevertheless, we could not entirely ignore the remaining broadcasts; sometimes Peacekeepers asked people in the streets about specific events, like which tribute had most recently died, and if you did not know the answer, you were in trouble. Thus, while we did not pay full attention to the viewings, we always tried to memorize some key aspects.

Fortunately, the games were eventually over, and we only had to endure the victor interview and the quick review of him getting home to his own district. Once this was completed, the summer holidays really started.

During most of the previous summers I had spent most of my time working in the bakery, reading, and hanging out with some friends. Sleeping in was an option, of course; however, as I was a true baker's son, I was an early bird. Waking up at 5 or 6 in the morning was normal, even on weekends or during school holidays, but it was hard for me to stay awake longer then about 9 in the evening.

Working in the bakery was still something I liked to do a lot, but maybe even more I started to enjoy spending time with my little friend Prim. If somebody had told me half a year ago that I was voluntarily seeking the company of a six year old girl for extended periods of time, I would have thought for that person to be out of their mind. As it turned out, though, I immensely enjoyed Prim's company, and I loved to see her smile, for instance when I brought her a cookie or a small cupcake from the bakery.

Her parents did not mind her spending time with me, and so we spent quite a few of the hot days in summer together, sometimes in my room, sometimes outside. I had found a few old books with fairy tales and such, and we could easily spend hours with me reading stories to her and her asking funny questions.

On one of those days I read her the story of "Red Riding Hood". When I got to the point for the girl to find the wolf in grandma's bed pretending to be said grandmother, Prim giggled:

"I do not think that I would not have recognized the wolf. Besides, wolves cannot talk!"

Later on, when the hunter opened the beast's belly and got grandma out alive, Prim giggled again:

"I cannot believe a wolf can be large enough to swallow an adult person!"

I teased her a little: "Maybe big wolves like that are outside of the fence, in the big forest, and that's why we need that fence?"

Now the little girl shivered a little: "I hope not! Don't we have something more funny to read?"

On another day we had some fun together taking the plant book and trying to find out if we could identify at least some of the plants shown in there somewhere in our district. I was quite surprised to learn that Prim seemed to know quite a few details on some plants, in particular plants which could be used for some kind of medicine. I knew that her mother was a healer, but I had not expected her young daughter already learning that kind of stuff. When I mentioned that to Prim she replied:

"Oh yes, I have started to assist Mom some time ago. I collect plants for her, and I help her mixing them properly. This is so fascinating to get plant mixtures which can actually help people, like to sleep better or treat an upset stomach! Also, sometimes when searching for those plants, you may find edible plants and herbs one can use to spice food and make it taste less bland."

I guessed that she had a point there.

A few times, when the sun was shining a lot and temperatures were really high, we looked for a shaded spot on the border of 'our' meadow, leaned back against a tree, and asked each other simple questions, like what our favorite color and food was:

"So, Prim, what is your favorite color?"

"Hard to tell," Prim replied, "maybe yellow, but I really like almost all colors, at least those my namesake is known to show."

"That would be white, yellow, red, and purple, at least, right?"

"Yes, and I would like to find out at some time if there are more colors for primroses. What is your favorite color?"

"Blue for sure. Not necessarily a specific shade of blue, but both a nice light blue as the summer sky and a darker shade. What's your favorite food?"

"Two things – bakery cupcakes made by you and roast venison. What about you?"

"Well, as we do that much baking at home, that I get a little weary of sweet food. I very much like meat like rabbit or venison and some vegetables like cauliflower."

On yet another day, when we had walked around the district together with Prim's friend Lizzy, we found a large patch of sand hidden between a few large fir trees. From my own early childhood I recalled that wet sand could easily be used to build something, like small castles, towers, roads, and such. The girls were not aware of that, and so I demonstrated by getting water from a nearby small creek and forming a little tower with wet sand, just using my hands. The girls squealed when they saw that, and soon they took over with the construction work, tasking me to get some more water when they needed it. I helped them to find some small pieces of bark which could be used a miniature shovels, and the two girls were busy playing in the sand for hours.

I wished that I had Peeta's talent in sketching, as it would have been nice to capture the image of the girls happily getting themselves dirty and outdoing each other with tower and castle construction jobs. Even better if we had one of those cameras they use to watch the games; watching the two playing in the sand would make for that much nicer viewing than tributes fighting in the arena.

In the evening, when I had delivered two very dirty and happy girls back to their families, my brothers asked me what I had done during the day, and when I told them about the playing in the sand, Wheat asked with a laugh:

"How old are you – five?"

Much too soon summer turned into autumn, and the new school year started. In my class, 'Merchants' and 'Seam' were now separated for some lessons, with 'Seam' kids learning even more about coal mining and 'Merchant' kids learning more about accounting and administration. Prim had now started her first year of school, and although she had to attend fewer lessons than I had, it turned out that school ended at the same time for Prim and me on Wednesday. I suggested to Mrs. Everdeen that I could take Prim home to my place and/or to the meadow every Wednesday for homework, playing, and some baking. She agreed to that, and thus our common Wednesday afternoons became a regular institution and a habit, and a nice one at it, too. The day soon became the highlight of every week for me, and I found that Prim's charming, cheerful and sweet attitude swapped over to me as well.

There were still a few warm and sunny days when we could go to our meadow; sometimes I helped Prim with her homework and explained something she had not understood yet, and sometimes also Peeta helped her to write properly and nicely. On rainy or colder days we usually went to my room for homework first and had a look into the bakery later on, sometimes just looking around and trying to grab some leftovers, sometime actually assisting in baking.

Prim asked funny questions at times. For instance, on one day when we were in 'our' meadow, she asked:

"How come two plus three equals five, but one plus four also equals five?"

I laughed a little and replied: "Mathematics can be odd, but sometimes you have the same result apply to different equations. Same as 'two plus two equals four', and 'two times two also equals four'."

She thought about that for a moment and then beamed: "Yes, that's also a funny one!"

Her next question was: "You know, I will never become a coal miner for sure. But still, lots of teachers talk about coal mining, and I have been told that all of us need to learn the basics about that. Why can't we learn something else instead?"

"Well," I started, "if you become a healer like your mother, a lot of your patients will be coal miners. You will need to know how certain injuries happened, and they will tell you stuff only a coal miner can properly understand. Thus, learning the basics on coal mining will help you later on to better understand the people seeking your help as healer, I guess."

Prim thought about that for some time and then nodded: "I guess that you may be right about that."

When she was done asking questions, we listened to the singing of the birds, the humming of the insects, and other nature noises. I noticed that she was occasionally looking towards the fence and the forest behind, and we watched a small group of butterflies flying over the fence and heading out towards what we assumed to be more flowers and such, Prim sighed and said:

"I so wish that we could go there and explore, find new plants and flowers; why did they have to put that stupid fence there?"

I did not have a good answer to that, but she did not really expect one.

One week later Prim suggested that we go and visit the Hawthorne family. Their youngest kid, Vick, was celebrating his 3rd birthday, and as the Everdeen family and the Hawthorne family were best friends, Prim was invited; she wanted to go, but both her sister and her mother were otherwise occupied, and she insisted that I join her. She actually suggested:

"I already got some flowers to bring. However, in addition, do you think we could bring a few cupcakes or pastries from the bakery?"

I shrugged and replied: "Depends on what we can afford. Let me check with my Dad. But are you sure that I am going to be welcome there as well?"

Prim nodded and said: "Of course you are – you are my friend!"

I was not fully sure about that, as I assumed that most Seam residents did not share the Everdeen attitude to be also friendly towards us, but if it turned out that they did not want me there, as a 'Merchant' boy in a 'Seam' house, I could just leave.

At the bakery I asked Dad if we could bring something, and he responded: "Please don't make that a habit, but I actually have a set of small cupcakes which did not come out of the oven as they should have and are not good enough to be sold. Taste should be mostly all right, though. Feel free to take some of those."

Thanking him I packed the pieces into a bag and let Prim guide me to the Hawthorne home. Walking into the Seam always meant to overcome a border, although this was not shown by a sign or so. Large stone houses gave way to small wooden houses, residents were dressed in simpler and cheaper clothes, and the streets were poorly maintained. While our district was poor in general, at least most of those living in the Merchant area had access to showers and more or less proper food; Seam residents sometimes had to wash themselves from basins or outside, and many of them had to struggle to survive, as a coal miners salary was barely sufficient to support a family. However, when one looked closer, the people one could see did not really look sad; they tried their best to cope with the situation and were helping out each other when they could; at least this is what I learned later on. Overall they might even be more friendly than Merchants, at least among themselves.

As it was a work day, Mr. Hawthorne, who also worked in the mines, was not at home yet; a kid's birthday was not good enough to justify getting a day off here in our district. Prim introduced me to Mrs. Hawthorne and their children – Gale, the oldest son, age 11, close to my middle brother, Rory, second oldest son, age 6 like Prim, and Vick, youngest son, 3 years old as of today. Mrs. Hawthorne warmly welcomed me into their home; Prim had told them something about our background before, and Mrs. Hawthorne was very grateful for the presents. She said:

"You actually brought some pastries – this is so great, as we normally cannot afford any – thank you so much!"

Gale, though, did not look happy when seeing me. He said something along the line "what does a Merchant boy do here?", but his mother admonished him to be polite and emphasized that I was very welcome in their home. I found the Hawthornes, like the Everdeens, a very friendly family and enjoyed my time there. Gale's attitude and scowl reminded me a little bit of Katniss, though.

Over the next few weeks at school, Tyler and some other friends of mine got even more curious than before when they noticed that I was walking into the Seam sometimes on Wednesdays right after school. I never told them that I was meeting Primrose Everdeen, but they could not avoid to notice that we were friendly at school and spent some of our breaks together. In addition to that we were seen together in the bakery a few times, and it did not take them long to find out that we were much closer than Seam and Merchant kids usually were. On the next day Tyler asked me right away:

"Rye, we are seeing you a lot together with that Seam girl, the Everdeen daughter, both in the Seam and in the bakery. What are you doing together with her? Can't you meet Merchant girls?"

"Tyler," I started, "Primrose Everdeen and I met by coincidence. We like to talk to each other, and sometimes we spent a few hours in her home or in the bakery. We are comfortable with each other. What is wrong with that?"

"Well," Tyler replied, "isn't she a little young to be your girlfriend?"

I laughed: "She is not my girlfriend! You know that I do not have a sister, and I kind of feel like she is my substitute sister."

"Yes," Tyler started, "but why can't you be with Merchant girls instead? We should not mingle with Seam people!"

"What kind of rule is that?" I asked. "My Dad thinks different, and both Mrs. Everdeen and my Dad approve of our friendship."

"Just trying to warn you," Tyler continued. "You are a good friend of mine, and I guess that I can learn to accept what you are doing. However, some others have already started to laugh about you, and you will be soon the target of jokes and pranks if you continue like that."

I looked a little bit sad now: "Yes, I understand, and thank you for your hints. Well, I will have to live with that, I guess."

Indeed, a few days later I could hear the first comments, and overheard some other students with remarks like "Seam lover", "Ryan now mingles with Seam girls", "Ryan starts to get them early", and such. Girls about my age also looked at me in a different way. Delly of course, although being much younger, understood, but some other girls also used bad phrases towards me, and some of them even refused to talk to me any longer.

On one day a few other boys actually followed Tyler and me on our way home, and when we had left the school neighborhood, they started to threaten me: "Ryan Mellark, what you do is not right – stop to mingle with Seam kids, and Tyler Smith, stop being his friend if he refuses!"

When both us of were apparently not intimidated and told them that we would stick to our behavior, they started to attack, three against two. However, the other boys were not wrestlers as I was, and Tyler was also quite strong. I gained a few minor injuries and bruises, including a bloody nose and slightly swollen eye, but not really worse than after some of my mother's beatings when I was younger. Eventually we managed to overcome the three boys until they finally ran off. After thanking Tyler for his support I went to the Everdeen home, hoping that Mrs. Everdeen would take care of my scratches and bruises properly.

When I got there, she looked at me disapprovingly, asking where I got my injuries from. I told her about the fight and the reason for it, and she immediately went from scowling to sympathetic, asking me:

"Ryan, do all of the boys at school think like that?"

"Not at all." I replied. "The three who attacked today were the worst ones, and most other students either have already accepted what I am doing or will do so sooner or later. Do not worry about me, please."

Mrs. Everdeen shook her head, but started to treat my scratches. Fortunately nothing needed to be stitched and she also confirmed that my nose was not broken, but she applied some herbal mixes on some places, telling me that this would help to clean the cuts and make them heal better. When she was almost finished, Prim came in, and she was kind of shocked seeing me injured. Her mother told her what I had mentioned before, and Prim quickly said:

"Rye, we can stop meeting if this bothers you. I don't want to be responsible for destroying your friendship with others, and I do not want to get you injured like this!"

I quickly replied: "Prim, first of all, you are certainly not responsible. Unfortunately, the gap between Seam and Merchant has been around for a long time, and some people take this as a law of nature. Real good friends, like Tyler and Delly, stick to me, and those who now despise me obviously are not really good friends. We are not doing something wrong at all, so please rest assured that this is just fine."

Fortunately, the problems mostly subsided over the weeks and months. While some kids insisted on badmouthing Prim and me over an extended period of time, most of them got used to our friendship, and eventually those who still did not like that were a small minority, which could be safely ignored; none in that group were real friends of mine anyway.

Autumn progressed, and the days were getting colder. Prim and I usually met in the bakery now, and sometimes at her home rather than in the meadow. On one particular Sunday my family had a very nice piece of meat for lunch, which tasted like deer. I had noticed before that we usually had a decent piece of meat on Sundays, and on this day I asked my father after lunch, when it was just him and me:

"Dad, I have noticed before, but never asked about it. How come that we frequently have meat on Sundays which tastes like deer, like today, or boar or so on other days? Where is this from? The butcher does not have this on display as far as I know."

"Son," my father started, "what I tell you know needs to be kept as a secret between us. You are old enough to learn about it, though. There are a few people in the Seam who dare to go through the fence at times, when it is not powered, finding some holes in remote areas. They go hunting and do other stuff our there, and some of them trade what they got against other food they need. I usually give bread for meat, and I have somebody coming on Sunday morning on an almost regular basis, and sometimes on other days as well. Strictly speaking, hunting outside the fence is illegal, and if they are ever caught, they will face severe punishment, a whipping at the very least. They take the risk because they struggle to survive on miner's salary, which is not really sufficient for families. This is my way of supporting them, being generous in the trading. What they can't trade here or at some other places, they bring to the Hob, which is the Seam market – the Hob merchant takes and offers almost everything."

He paused for a moment, and added: "Funny thing is that I heard that some Peacekeepers have also grown to like eating game, and they also trade or pay for it, but please really keep this for yourself!"

I understood and nodded, saying: "Dad, this is great, and thank you for letting me know about it. I appreciate a lot your doing this, and I won't tell people about it, of course."

A few weeks later, when I got up early on a Sunday morning, my father called me down into the bakery to meet Mr. Everdeen. He was dressed for outdoors and had brought a couple of rabbits for us, and my father gave him four loaves of bread for those. Dad introduced me:

"Mr. Everdeen, you have met my oldest son Ryan before. I have recently told him about the trading, and it's about time he knows about it. I can trust him not to tell."

Mr. Everdeen nodded and added: "Please make sure that you do not talk to Primrose about that. Katniss occasionally goes hunting with me, and she is already informed by necessity, but you two don't talk much anyway."

"Katniss is not a big talker at all, right?" I asked.

"No, she is not" Mr. Everdeen confirmed, "but you should see her when we go hunting. She can already sneak better than I can, and in a year or two she will also surpass me using the bow. She seems to have quite a gift."

Mr. Everdeen packed bis bread loaves and wished us a good day, then he left. I was glad that I had met him, and I was also glad that we, the baker family, could do at least something to help others who were apparently struggling to survive.

_[Author's Note: In my story the reaping takes place a couple of days after school year end, at the beginning of the summer holidays, I am not sure if this is consistent with the books. I also assume that kids are only expected to watch the viewings once they have started school.]_


	4. Chapter 4 - The ice incident

**Chapter 4: The ice incident**

_[Winter after the 68__th__ Hunger Games]_

In early winter we heard that the annual victory tour was starting soon. When the train started the tour in our district, as they usually started in the district with the highest number, the usual stage had been placed in front of the Justice Building, like for the reaping, and everybody in the district was obliged to attend; school was called off for that day, of course. Peacekeepers even sometimes entered homes to make sure everybody was out. I am not sure if we were supposed to smile and cheer all of the time, but normally nobody did that anyway; our people were not happy to be reminded of the previous games and our two tributes who had been killed. Dad used to explain:

"The victory tour is part of President Snow's way to demonstrate his power over all of us. We don't like, but we better behave for that day. We don't want to give the Peacekeeper's an excuse for punishing us."

Thus we all gathered in the big city square, some of the citizens finding seats on one of the benches, and some others standing in between and behind. My brothers and I managed to get there ahead of most others and found nice seats for us, and when the Everdeen family entered the square from the opposite direction, I waved to them; as soon as Prim saw me, she pulled her parents towards us. Her parents and Katniss also found seats close to us, whereas Prim placed herself next to me, smiling up into my face.

Once the train arrived, this year's victor, a tall, strong, and mean looking career girl from district 1 emerged; we had to endure a couple of hours listening to speeches from her and our mayor. The girl pretended to be sorry for the death of our tributes, but one could clearly see that she did not mean it. She was one of those who actually had fun killing others, as was kind of typical for the careers in districts 1, 2, and 4. They had trained for the games, and it was common in those districts that the most strong and mean boys and girls volunteered if a weaker and younger child was chosen in the lottery.

After she had spoken, nobody moved, and not a single attempt to applaud was made, same as in the years before. The peacekeepers were looking around for any obvious sign of rebellious or non-aligned behavior, but nobody twitched and gave any reason for concern to them. Eventually the show was over, and once the train had left our district, we were all dismissed and could go home again. We had been lucky this year as the day had been dry and not too cold, actually.

The cold days of winter did not provide many opportunities to walk around a lot, so that all students were usually eager to get home when school was out. Prim was always almost bursting to tell people about what she had learned, and I was quite willing to listen whenever we met. I did have two younger brothers at home, but somehow I had never paid attention to seeing how a young child starts to grab the basics of reading, writing, and counting. Prim told me that Katniss sometimes listened and also her mother, but that she liked to tell me, too. Besides our usual Wednesday we also met frequently on the weekends, Saturdays at least, and we spent much of that time discussing what she had learned. On Sunday Mr. Everdeen was off work, and that was their family day.

For instance, when Prim learned how to count, she started using her fingers, but had trouble figuring out how to get beyond 10. I searched in my cupboard and found a very old and worn 'abacus', which was probably still from my father's time at school. I tried to explain:

"See, Prim, you can count the single digits with the small beads in the first row here, Once you get to ten, you can proceed to the next row and reset the first one."

After I had demonstrated that a few times, Prim got it and smiled at me, practicing what I had suggested. She was quite smart and usually understood quickly once something was properly explained.; not all of the teachers at school were good at explaining, though.

Later on during the winter I made sure to visit the Everdeen home occasionally, and sometimes I helped with the chopping of firewood or other chores. A few times I was invited for a meal, and I always brought some pastries. On other days, I spent some extra time listening to Prim when she learned and practiced reading, and I patiently corrected her when she was pronouncing something totally wrong. Mrs. Everdeen told me that she appreciated my effort on doing this, as her husband was too busy working in the mines to help Prim, she herself was frequently out to treat sick or injured people, and Katniss did not show enough patience for that task. She was concerned a little:

"Ryan, you are really a very nice person to have around, but are you sure that Primrose doesn't take too much of your time? A teenage boy like you sure has other hobbies than spending that much time with a little girl. Please let me know if she is taking advantage of you!"

Truthfully I assured her: "Mrs. Everdeen, doing homework with Prim and spending time with her is more fun than chore for me; don't worry about that. I tend to be looking forward to each Wednesday afternoon and our time together, also on the weekends"

And indeed, that was the truth. I would never have imagined that I'd actually enjoy watching a young girl in first grade doing her homework or listening to her babble, but I found myself actually looking forward to spending time with her. I was not exactly a big talker and not quick-witted at all; most of the time when somebody made a comment, I came up with a proper reply hours or days later rather than right away, and that bothered me. At school, I sometimes was a target of funny remarks, and only my tall and strong build prevented me from being mocked too much. With Prim, I did not have to worry about any of that.

In January, lots of snow came down from thick and dark clouds, and for some time the streets in the district were almost impassable. School was called off for a few days, and business in the bakery was very slow as lots of potential customers were having trouble finding their way around.

I recalled the time when I had had lots of fun playing in the snow as a kid and somehow felt the urge to do this again. Wheat considered himself too old and mature for that, but Peeta wanted to join in, and we went outside to see what we could do. Fortunately, as we needed to keep the entrance to the bakery clear, we had plenty of wooden snowshovels, and once we had cleaned up in front of the bakery entrance, we were free to go.

"Come on, Peeta," I called out to my brother, "let's go to the Seam and play with Prim!"

Peeta was hesitating at first, but finally he trotted behind me. Eventually we got to the Everdeen house, and when Prim saw us, she called our from a window:

"Rye, Peeta, what are you doing here?"

I called back: "We want to see if we can have some fun playing in the snow – want to come out, too?"

"YES!" she called back and got inside again to get dressed.

Five minutes later Prim came running out, and her mother was with here to see where she was going. I met her on the porch:

"Mrs. Everdeen, Peeta and I want to play in the snow, and Prim is welcome to join. Maybe we could play in your backyard so that Prim is not far from home?"

"Yes, please feel free to play in our backyard" Mrs. Everdeen replied.

"I would also invite Katniss, but somehow I doubt that she wants to join us" I added.

We moved to the Everdeen backyard, and found a corner where snow had accumulated more than one meter high. Moments later Rory Hawthorne also came and joined us in playing.

"Let's dig a tunnel!" I suggested, and within moments we were all digging, some of us with shovels and the other with their hands and arms. Once we had managed the tunnel, Prim and Rory were getting on top of the snow peak and I shouted:

"Careful, everybody – two monsters try to destroy our tunnel!"

Prim giggled and stomped around on top and Rory tried to help, but their weight was not sufficient to cause major damage.

"Now I am going to drive the monster away!" I shouted and pretend to look angry and aggressive. I took a broom and got close to the two young children, attempting to shove them away. They both yelped and fled to the other side of the yard, and I raised my arms and shouted out loud:

"Victory! The monsters are defeated!"

Prim and Rory sneaked behind me, and I pretended to not notice that. While I was still standing there, they pushed me from behind, so that I fell into the snow face forward. Now the two kids were dancing and shouting "Victory! The monsters have won!".

Slowly getting up again I shouted "Revenge will be mine!", picked up my broom and advanced towards Prim and Rory, trying to look very upset and angry. They yelped again and ran around the house, chased by me. We circled the house a few times, when Peeta finally decided to join us as well. Just when the two young kids had turned around a corner, Peeta jumped into their path, also holding a broom, and shouted "Got you!".

Prim and Rory had not anticipated that and were caught between my brother and me. We both looked very angry, and I said: "Well, what shall we do with those two naughty monsters?"

Peeta suggested: "What about making a campfire and roasting them on it?"

While Peeta and I were thinking about other options, Rory managed to jump away and escape, but when Prim tried to do the same, I caught her. She wiggled around, but I held her tightly. It did not take long for her to find out that she liked being in my arms; she stopped fidgeting and wrapped her arms around my neck. Peeta complained:

"She is no fun – she likes you too much!"

"Why don't you get your own girl, little brother?"

Peeta actually blushed, and when he noticed Katniss looking out of the window to see what we were doing, he quickly said that he needed to go home and was gone in an instant. Somehow I had the feeling that something was going on between Katniss and my youngest brother, but I could not put my finger on it.

I also managed to build some kind of snow slide, and Prim and Rory had quite a lot of fun sliding down in various positions. Some time later we were all exhausted and decided that we had had enough fun. I made sure that the two kids were safely in the house, took my leave, and also went home. Playing in the snow could really be fun; maybe next time I was going to throw snowballs, I thought.

A few day later the temperatures rose and the snow started to melt. Just when we got concerned about potential flooding, temperature dropped again overnight, and when we looked out again in the morning, we saw a thick layer of ice covering almost every surface, including streets and walkways. Long icicles were hanging down from the roof and other elevations, and the sun was glittering on the ice.

Peeta grinned at breakfast:

"I guess that we are going to have fun outside today – let's find out who manages to fall down last!"

Our father was looking more concerned, though: "Kids, let's be careful. Falling down on ice can cause serious injuries, and getting around may be challenging. I wonder if any customers are going to come in today. We need to do something to make the walkways less slippery."

"What can we do, Dad?" I asked.

"Well," he replied, "we have a small supply of sand to disperse on the ice, and this might be good enough for the bakery entrance area. However, considering how much of icy conditions we can see outside, it appears like the entire district may be affected, and I do not know where we can find more sand or grit."

"How can we move around safely outside?" Wheat now asked.

"Good question, son!" my father nodded. "We had a lot of ice a few years ago, and at that time the butcher and I had worked on the issue. We have two sets of special over-shoes with rubber soles and integrated small nails, and those should enable us to walk almost normally. They should fit for Rye and myself, so that I would like you, Wheat and Rye, to keep the ovens and the baking running and be available for potential customers."

My father and I got to work quickly, and in less than half an hour we had dispersed enough sand on the walkway in front of the bakery and on the small path leading to our back door to make walking safe, at least more or less. When this was done, Dad mumbled:

"If we had more sand, we could help out same neighbors, too..."

Suddenly I remembered the large patch of sand where the girls had play in summer, and I mentioned that to Dad.

"Son, thank you for reminding me of that – let's take our cart and get more sand from that spot. Do you think that you can find it under all of that snow and ice?"

I nodded: "Yes, I am sure that I can find it, and it is not very far either."

Dad pulled the cart, which we usually took for getting supplies from the train station, out of the shed, and our special over-shoes allowed us to walk without major incidents, albeit slowly. Of course reaching the copse took much more time than in summer, but we managed eventually. Fortunately, the trees had prevented snow to get too deep, and we only had to shovel a thin layer of snow away to get to the sand. One hour later we had a cart full of sand and slowly made our way back to the bakery.

We passed the shoemaker's house, and Delly was looking out. Seeing us with the cart she was curious about what we were doing and I explained:

"Delly, Dad and I got more sand to disperse on walkways so that people do not fall down when walking. I think that we are going to spread some more sand on all walkway along the shops. Maybe you could help?"

Of course, being a shoemaker's daughter, Delly had proper winter boots with rubber soles, and if she walked carefully, she was unlikely to fall down. We handed her a bucket with sand and she got to work right away in front of her father's store.

The metalworker shop was next, and Tyler also wanted to help. However, lacking proper boots, he had big trouble staying upright. He ended up getting a bucket with sand and spreading sand starting from his doorstep.

We continued with our effort until noon and then went in for resting and having lunch.

Once we had eaten, I asked my family:

"I wonder how the Seam people get along. What if some of them get injured by falling down and cannot even get to Mrs. Everdeen?"

My mother quickly replied: "What do we care about the Seam? Let's have them take care of their own!"

"Larissa, this is not a fair attitude!" my father objected. "Mabel Everdeen has helped us frequently to treat burns from the oven and other injuries, and we should have a look at least."

One hour later found my Dad and me getting another load of sand from the patch in the copse, and we followed the small roads towards the Seam from there. Some curious children looked out from their houses when we passed, and some adults scowled and seemed to distrust any 'Merchant' activity.

From the Everdeen house, Prim looked out, and when she noticed us, she came running out of the door, not thinking about the ice for the moment. I could hear her sister calling out "Prim!", but the warning was shouted out too late; Prim slipped, fell on her back, and slid more then ten meters right into me. I laughed and picked her up giving her a welcome hug and tenderly planting a kiss on her forehead. From her position in my arms she asked:

"Rye, what are you doing?"

"Let us get in and also talk to your mother, Prim."

With her still in my arms, my father and I entered the Everdeen home. Mr. Everdeen was also at home because reaching the mines was practically impossible with all of the ice. My father explained what we were doing and that we had already treated the walkways in then 'Merchant' section in the morning. He asked if our help was wanted in the 'Seam' area, maybe to allow people to get to the healer.

"Jacob Mellark, this is a great idea!" Mrs. Everdeen told us. "I was already getting concerned about how to get to injured people, and I would very much like you to help us with clearing some paths at least."

Well, off we were again, this time dispersing sand on the narrow roads in the Seam. While we were at it, we saw a figure crawling towards us, and soon I recognized Gale Hawthorne. He ignored my father and me and addressed Prim's mother, who was with us outside, carefully staying within the sanded areas:

"Mrs. Everdeen, please, come quick, my mother slipped and injured herself!"

"Gale," she responded "as you may have noticed, getting anywhere quick is basically impossible today. We have to ask the two Mellark men to assist us in getting to your house."

Gale scowled at us; obviously he disliked to recognize that he might need our help. Nonetheless we concentrated our focus now on sanding the road passing the Hawthorne home, and half an hour later Mrs. Everdeen got safely get there. Once this was achieved, my father and I slowly turned home; we were getting tired and needed to east and rest. Just before we were home, Mayor Undersee came in an ATV and wanted to learn what we are doing. When my father pointed out which areas we had sanded, the mayor looked interested and said:

"Mr. Mellark, Ryan Mellark, I should have thought of that. Sadly, we do not get much help from the Capitol and do not have proper equipment. Thank you for helping out today and for your great effort. Maybe next time the capitol asks why the mines are closed I can let them know that we could keep them open if we had proper equipment."

A couple of days later the situation improved; rising temperatures removed most of the ice, the mines opened again, and district life continued mostly as normal. When I saw Prim the next time I heard that Mrs. Hawthorne had broken one of her legs when falling badly on the ice. It was s simple break, and Prim's mother had been able to splint it properly, but Mrs. Hawthorne would not be able to move around much for a few weeks.

Soon winter changed into spring, which was welcomed by everybody, as usual. While children had enjoyed the snow and the possibilities it offered for playing outside, adults, particularly those living in the Seam, were worried about having enough firewood for heating their houses. We were looking forward to giving our homes a much needed airing, and of course we couldn't wait to find at least some edible plants again to spruce up our diet. Whereas the abundance of berries and other edible plants with the are enclosed by the fence was limited, there were still quite a few to be found, once you knew how to distinguish the edible plants form the poisonous ones.

Prim was doing very well at school, and my own grades were not bad either. We continued to meet once a week at least, and in late March we could go to the meadow for the first time this year, to listen to the birds starting their spring singing contest, to see the first bees searching for early flowers like daffodils, and to feel warm sun rays warming our bodies. When I asked Prim how she liked school so far, she told me:

"Depends, really. Physical education is great, because we can run around rather than sitting behind a desk. Learning to count is also okay, at least since you gave me your old counting device, but big numbers are a little scary. Social studies are fine when we talk about nature and plants – that is something I know about already!"

"So everything is great?" I asked.

"No, not everything." she replied. "History and coal mining it so totally boring, and learning to write properly and nicely is difficult; I am glad that Peeta sometimes helps me out with that."

Suddenly she smiled and continued: "Can you imagine what happened a few days ago? My teacher brought a daffodil in and asked us if anybody knew what kind of flower that was. Before anybody said anything, Rory blurted out that it was a tulip!"

"But you knew better, right?"

"Of course I did! How can someone not know something that simple?"

"Well, maybe Rory knows something else you don't? You told me that Mrs. Hawthorne does the laundry for lots of other people, and maybe he already helps with that? Do you know how to do laundry properly?

"No, I do not." Prim admitted.

"You see," I tried to explain, "different people have different gifts. If everybody knew about flowers and nobody about baking, how would you get bread? I think that we should not look down on those who have different gifts; there may be a time when we are happy about that."

"Yes," Prim smiled again while cuddling up to me, "and I am very happy that you are a baker's son and give me wonderful and sweet cupcakes from time to time!"

_[Author's Note: I imagine that district 12 may not have access to heave duty snowploughing equipment]_


	5. Chapter 5 - The 69th Hunger Games

**Chapter 5: The 69th Hunger Games**

_[Spring and summer of 69__th__ Hunger Games]_

Time passed quickly this year, and Prim's 7th birthday was approaching fast. Similar to last year, I asked for permission to take Prim out 'on a date' to our meadow prior to the family celebration, and this was granted by her mother. However, the weather crossed our plans, and rain forced us to deviate to my room instead. This year I had a couple of used picture books for Prim, together with the usual pastries, of course. Prim was not as happy as I expected her to be, though, and when I asked if she had a problem, she told me with a broody look on her face:

"Rye, you know that this is the first year I am forced to watch the games; last year I was not in school yet. I am a little bit scared about that, as my sister has told me that the games can be kind of cruel and bloody, and while I have already seen blood a few times at home when Mom treated people, I will certainly not enjoy seeing people killed just for fun."

"Prim," I started, "you need to understand that most tributes in the games do not kill 'just for fun', but because they have to in order to survive as long as possible."

"Yes, sure," Prim replied, "but Katniss also told me that some tributes are trained to kill and they seem to enjoy killing!"

I had not thought about that one at this time, but had to admit that Prim was probably right. As far as I knew, tributes in districts 1 and 2 at least were kind of trained for the games, and quite a few of them obviously liked killing, and this showed in the games. Thus I said:

"I guess that you are right about that, but there is not much we can do about it, I am afraid."

"But," Prim continued with concern, "what if you are chosen as tribute?"

I sighed. "Yes, there is a risk, and I am somewhat worried about that chance as well. If I am chosen, I will have to do my best, but I will almost certainly die in the arena. Maybe better me than one of my brothers, though. Peeta is still too young, but Wheat is already in reaping age."

Prim was not happy with my answer at all: "If you are chosen, I will miss you a lot, but if you are not, family and friends of somebody else will be unhappy."

I did not have a response to that; she got a point, and maybe that was the games' basic idea to make some people unhappy.

After a few minutes of silence, Prim decided to get back to her original point: "Well, regarding the viewing, I was thinking that as I like to be with you so much, maybe for the violent parts of the games at least you might want to sit at my side and hold my hand while we are watching?"

Quickly looking at Prim I noticed that she was blushing just a little bit, and this was the first time I suspected that she might have a tiny little crush on me. Why else would she want me to hold her hand rather than her mother, her father, or her sister? Well, from my point of view, I did not have a problem with that at all, and I replied:

"If you are sure that you would not want one of your parents next to you, I guess that I can do that. When the games are close, why don't you ask your parents if I am allowed to watch some parts together with you?"

Later in the afternoon we went over to the Everdeen home for the girl's official birthday celebration. Naturally, as the birthday guests were mostly other Seam children, the presents were simple ones, like a few flowers or a used toy or something like that. Nevertheless, the gifts were given with love. When afternoon turned into evening, all children except the Hawthornes left, and for supper there was only the Everdeen family, the Hawthorne family, and myself. Mr. Everdeen and Mr. Hawthorne came back from their work in the mines together, and after eating we had quite a nice conversation.

Apparently Prim had not waited long to ask, because she told me quite excitedly when we met next time: "I have asked Dad, and he is all right with my idea!"

I did not make the connection right away and looked at her in a questioning way, so that she was quick to elaborate: "About you coming to our place and holding my hand when watching the games, of course – we talked about that just a few days ago!"

I was not sure I had understood properly: "You explicitly asked your Dad not only about me visiting during the games, but also about the holding hands part?"

"Yes, of course I did" Prim replied, "why shouldn't I – this is important for me! I wanted to make sure Dad got my point, and he sure did, as he smiled and approved right away."

Wow, I liked her direct and straight approach. A couple of years ago, when I had started to get interested in girls, I had tried to get friendly with Amber, who was in my class and just a few months younger than I was. We were both 14 years old, and had started holding hands. While I had liked it and felt like doing this all the time, in particular when being with friends and family, she had not shared my preference and only had allowed me to touch her hand when nobody was watching. I had not understood this, and our dating, if I could even call it like this, had not lasted long at all. Prim was different for sure. Of course, her motivation was another one, and once she got older, she would think and act in a different way most likely, but I still decided to enjoy it while I could.

Just to make sure I got that right I asked: "So you do not have a problem sitting in your living room, holding my hand, and have your entire family seeing this?"

"No, not at all," Prim quickly replied, "why should I? We are good friends, and my family knows that as well as I do."

Yep, she was different, but in a good and heart warming way. Also, she was just seven years old, and holding hands with a seven year old was not something romantic or so, but just helping out a poor concerned and frightened child, right?

Much quicker than we wanted, the end of school year and the subsequent start of this year's Hunger Games came upon us. Effie Trinket came to district 12 for the second time, and although she did quite a good job in hiding this, I got the feeling that she did not really enjoy being here and was kind of looking down on all of us poor people. Fortunately, like last years, none of my friends and family were chosen at the reaping, and a couple of hours later the tribute train left for the Capitol. The first mandatory viewing showed the tribute presentation a few days later, and I watched that part with my family at home. Next mandatory viewing would be the start of the games, and promptly Prim invited me to her home a few days in advance, assuring me that her parents had allowed that.

Naturally I did not come without presents and had a small bag with pastries and bread with me. Most of them were leftovers which had not been sold on the day before or pieces which had broken or somehow were not good enough for sale, but still good to eat. The Everdeens knew about that, but appreciated the gifts nonetheless. I arrived about a quarter of an hour before viewing was supposed to start, and water for a herbal tea was already boiling. The living room they had was much smaller than ours, and I suddenly realized that they had only seats enough for four – two on the small couch and two on simple and worn easy chairs, each of them barely big enough for one person, but certainly not for two. I was confused on how we would make that work and thought that they might bring an additional chair in from another room, but nobody moved to do this. When viewing was about to start, I asked about the seating situation:

"Sorry for asking, but would you like me to bring in an additional chair from another room or so?"

Prim started to laugh and replied: "Silly, no need for that – I am going to sit on your lap, of course!"

I was quite confused now, both by the statement itself and by being called 'silly' by a young girl. It would turn out later on that she was going to use that patronizing attribute like a pet name whenever I failed to follow her line of thought right away. Regarding the sitting situation, Mrs. Everdeen explained with a smile:

"Surely Prim told you before that she was planing to sit on your lap?"

My embarrassment showed for sure; I admitted that she had not, and Prim uttered an "Oops – must have forgotten to mention that part."

Mrs. Everdeen quickly commented on that: "Of course Prim can sit as well on her father's lap – you don't have to do this, if you don't want to!"

My reply was quite quick as well: "No, don't get me wrong, I don't mind having her on my lap at all; it's just that I had not expected her to do that with all of you watching..."

"Oh Ryan," Mrs. Everdeen responded, laughing a little – I had suggested some time ago that she and her husband call me by first name - "you are practically family now; nobody has an issue with that, as long as Primrose is fine with it. It's not like your are going to kidnap her and drag her to the Slag Heap..."

I did not like that kind of comparison but got the point. Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen sat very close together on the couch, quickly starting to cuddle and holding hands; Katniss was taking one of the easy chairs, so that the other one was left for Prim and myself. I eased myself down, and Prim was making herself comfortable on my lap, pulling my arms around her, as the broadcast started.

This year we could see the arena built in a tundra way, looking cold and harsh, with few trees, lots of grass and rocks, and dark weather. The tribute elevators were raised, and we could see the tributes eagerly looking around and orienting themselves. As soon as the countdown ended, most of them started to run towards the center which they called Cornucopia, as the best equipment and weapons were normally placed there. This year the Cornucopia was placed on a hill, and the tributes needed to climb a few rocks in order to get there. The cameras were merciless in zooming in to the most dangerous areas, and it only took a few minutes before the first couple of tributes were killed. They had focused on climbing and failed to look behind, not seeing the male career tribute from district 1, who had already gained a few spears and threw them with good aim. Seeing that, Prim started to cry and turned her head, and she grabbed my arms fiercely with her tiny hands.

That was only the start, of course, and within the next hour, seven more tributes lost their lives, including the boy from our district, most of them in quite a bloody way. Prim had done some sobbing into my shirt, and it was obvious that she did not like watching that at all. Seeing that my shirt was getting wet in some places from Prim's tears, Mr. Everdeen whispered towards me if I was all right with that and offered to take his daughter if needed, but I confirmed that I did not mind. Internally I was quite confused to see that Prim preferred to be comforted by me and not her own father, but that was quite all right in my book. I even found out that being able to feel and smell her that close made it easier for me to get at least partially distracted from the most violent scenes.

A few minutes later we got a break, and there was going to be another session of mandatory viewing in the evening. I had offered to stay for supper and this was accepted. Prim stayed on my lap for the entire viewing time again, and when the broadcast was over and I turned to leave, she said loud enough for all to hear:

"Rye, sitting on your lap with your arms around me was the only thing which made viewing bearable for me. Please do come again for the next viewing session!"

Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen smiled, I may have blushed a little, and Prim's mother said: "Ryan, it looks like you have got a big fan here! Please do not hesitate to come again tomorrow, if you can, and if she isn't too much for you!"

I promised to come again and walked home to my own family. Before going to bed I talked to my father and told him that Prim had been on my lap all of the time. He smiled and asked me:

"Do you have the feeling that it was wrong to have her there?"

"No, not at all!" I exclaimed. "It's just that her parents were around, and it feels kind of odd that she prefers to be comforted by me rather than her own parents. On the other hand, I could get used to feeling her on my lap with my arms around her; this was really cozy and comfortable, and to be honest, it made watching the games much more bearable for me, too, as I could focus on Prim and things like the smell of her hair rather than the games."

My father nodded: "Just understand that she will most likely stop doing that when she gets older. For now, enjoy it while you can, and there's nothing wrong with it, in particular as her parents know about it."

For one of the next viewing session I suggested to go to my family home for a change. Mother was visiting her sister in a different area of the district and staying there for the duration of the games, so that should be all right. All right it was, specifically for my two brothers. Seeing Prim on my lap and holding tight to my arms they grinned almost all of the time and made titillating remarks like "Do you like the smell of her hair?", "Have you kissed yet?", "Do you like to feel the strong muscles in Rye's arms?" and so on.

Prim was not getting confused or embarrassed at all by that and replied honestly and truthfully without any concern that she would be disappointed a lot if I did not like the smell of her hair, we had not kissed yet, she had not been to the Slag Heap yet, and yes, she liked to sit on my lap. Finally she thanked my brothers for willing to learn that much about her and what she did and thought, and she smiled at them.

Dad started laughing and told Prim: "Primrose, you are all right in my book! I have heard that your parents consider Ryan as almost family, and I would like to extend the same courtesy to you. Please consider us as something like your second family, and you are always welcome here!"

After some time my brothers gave up for the time being, recognizing that teasing Prim seemed to be quite difficult.

On the next day we had a long break between mandatory viewing sessions, and I suggested that Prim and I could go to the meadow, as it was quite a sunny and warm day. I brought the blanket and a few snacks, and soon we enjoyed the grass, the flowers and the butterflies there. After some time of sitting there and eating Prim started to talk:

"Rye, I need to ask something. Yesterday your brothers asked if we had kissed yet. I know we have not, but is this something we should do? Are you uncomfortable because we have not done this yet?"

This question caught me by surprise; I had not really expected a seven year old girl to think and ask about kissing, but of course my brothers had to bring up that topic. I needed to think about a proper answer, and I did not want to just tell Prim that she was too young to talk about it:

"Prim, no, I am not offended or unhappy or something like that at all. There is no particular rule about kissing, but as far as I know this is something people, or more specifically a girl and a boy or a woman and a man do because they want to do it, and not because they are supposed to. As far as I know this is a quite common thing like between a boy and his girlfriend, but I do not know for sure – I have never kissed a girl in all of my life."

"Oh," Prim responded, "same here – I have never kissed a boy. But good to hear that I have not missed something important. I do not want you to feel unhappy because I am so much younger than you are."

A few minutes later she continued: "You mentioned 'girlfriend'. When is a girl a boy's 'girlfriend'? I mean, I am a girl and your friend, does this make me your 'girlfriend'?"

"No, I do not think so." I replied. "Being called girlfriend and boyfriend is a decision which is done jointly by the involved boy and girl. If a boy and a girl like each other a lot, they prefer to make sure that certain things are only done between them. Like kissing – when a girl and boy kiss and hug each other and like it, they prefer that their partner is not also kissed and hugged by others. It is kind of a promise that, while the relation lasts, they show that kind of affection only to each other."

"Hm," Prim answered, "okay. But showing affection to one's parents and sister is still all right, isn't it?"

"Of course it is!" I confirmed. "Although, most boys and girls in a relation are already beyond the age where they show much affection towards their parents. I mean, I hug Dad sometimes, as he is a real great Dad, but a lot of kids stop hugging their parents after the age of about ten or eleven."

"Good point." Prim agreed, "I think that Katniss has stopped hugging Mom a year ago or so. They are still getting along quite well, but they touch each other only rarely now."

"Yes," I confirmed, "that's what I meant. It does not have to be that way, but usually it happens."

Somehow I got the feeling that this particular topic was going to be brought up again by Prim at some time in the future. However, I could not resist the temptation to ask Prim:

"Prim, how come that you discuss those topics with me rather than your parents or your sister?"

Prim promptly replied: "When I try to bring up a topic like this with my parents, I am always getting told that I am too young. When I talk to Katniss, she always tells me that she is never going to have a boyfriend or marry and getting a baby, because this world is not good enough to expose more children to it, and she strongly suggests that I think the same. Almost always I trust what she says, but on that one, I am not so sure. See, if my parents had decided to not marry and not have babies, I would not exist!"

She had an excellent point there, indeed.

The Hunger Games continued, bloody and violent as usual. I had tried to get used to it over the years and had not really succeeded; sometimes I had had nightmares after particularly bad days. Even at my current age of 16, I suffered from watching, and I noticed that my family did, too. There was one really bad day this year, with a couple of career tributes killing the girl from our district, slashing her belly open so that the intestines showed and started to spill out from her body. This was not a pretty sight at all, specifically as the camera zoomed in close and caught most of the gory details. I could even hear Mr. Everdeen retching a little, although he probably had seen something like that before when hunting, though with animals rather than human beings. When Prim, sitting on my lap as usual, noticed what was happening, I could feel her trembling and shivering, and she hold tight to my arms with as much force as she could muster, probably leaving some marks there.

Later on, after I had stayed for supper and turned to leave, Prim refused to let me go and whined: "I can't stop thinking about the kills and the blood form today's viewing, and I do not know how I can sleep like that. Can you stay, please?"

I looked at her parents, asking for their opinion, and Mrs. Everdeen replied:

"Well, if you have the time, why don't you take the easy chair with Prim and wait until she is asleep; then we can get her upstairs into her bed."

I nodded: "Yes, I can do that. Let me just quickly tell my father that I will be staying longer tonight. Prim, I will be back in less than an hour, all right?"

Reluctantly the young girl allowed me to pry her hands from my arms, and I quickly walked home to talk to my father. He understood the situation:

"Yes, today's viewing was really bad, and I am not surprised at all that little Primrose suffers from that. Stay as long as you want and she needs you – do not worry."

I thanked him and went back to the Seam area, after going to the bathroom, washing my face and brushing my teeth, soon entering the Everdeen home again. Prim's eyes were red from crying and sobbing, and as soon as she saw me, she jumped onto my lap again while I was still out on the porch.

I carefully placed us both on one of the armchairs, and Mrs. Everdeen brought a blanket for us. She told me that she would be cleaning up in the kitchen and checking on us later on. I tried to make myself and Prim as comfortable as possible, while Prim was still sobbing a little. Slowly moving my hands up and down her back, stroking her hair, and a few times kissing her tears away from her cheeks I succeeded in calming her, and eventually she got to sleep. I was still awake for some time, but enjoyed the feeling of relaxing in the armchair with Prim tightly pressed against me; that was not uncomfortable at all and actually helped me to calmed down as well. Vaguely I could see Mrs. Everdeen looking at us a few times and smiling, and at some time I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, daylight was already illuminating the room. Prim was still asleep but mumbling something which I did not understand, and her arms were still tightly wrapped around my neck, making it impossible for me to get up without waking her. While I was still thinking abut what to do, Mr. Everdeen and Katniss came in from outside, both dressed in hunting gear; probably they already came back from an early morning hunting. While Katniss wore her usual scowl when seeing Prim in my arms in the armchair, Mr. Everdeen smiled and asked me if I had a good night. I replied:

"Yes, thank you for asking. But why didn't you wake me and get Prim to her own bed last night?"

He told me: "We had originally planned to do that, of course. But Prim looked so peaceful there, and when you also were asleep, we tried to unwrap her arms from your neck, but were unable to do so without applying too much force and waking her, so that we decided to leave you; I hope that you do not mind, as the armchair probably was not as comfortable as your own bed."

Pondering this, I decided that I did not need to tell him that I might actually prefer an uncomfortable armchair with Prim over a nice bed without Prim and just answered: "This is all right; your armchair is not bad, actually, and I slept pretty well, considering the viewing we had yesterday."

While we were talking, Prim woke up, stretched her arms, looked at and beamed: "Rye, you are still here!"

"Yes, I am." I responded, "I also fell asleep, and your parents did not wake us..."

"I am glad that you stayed" the young girl beamed and told me, "and I have slept quite well here with you and in your arms – thank you so much for doing this for me!"

"You are very much welcome, Prim" was my prompt response.

When I got home, of course my brothers were curious to learn where I had been during the night, and although I tried to tell the story correctly, Wheat was soon opening his eyes wide and, while grinning, started to tease:

"I can't believe it – you actually slept with Prim?"

Dad decided to stop that: "William Mellark, this is no reason to make fun of the situation. You know as well as I do that yesterday's viewing was very cruel, and if Rye can help a young girl to sleep better in her parents' home, this is all right for me."

Dad rarely used our real names, and when he did, we knew that he was serious and we better listened. Peeta, my youngest brother, looked at me in an odd way when I mentioned that Katniss had been coming in with her father, but did not say anything.

After that one cruel day, the situation in the games headed towards the end, as only four tributes were now left, three of them being careers. I tried to be with Prim for most of the subsequent viewings, and she had to endure more cruel scenes, as a grass fire spread in at arena, forcing the remaining tributes closer together and thus fighting more. My poor young friend alternated between sobbing into my shirt and into her father's clothes, and we both tried our best to comfort her. A few days later the victor was decided and the games ended. There was one more viewing with the celebrations, and as every year, the victor would be coming around for his victory tour months later. Over the weeks, Prim recovered and was eventually back to her pretty and cheerful self, at least until the next year's games, that is.

_[Author's Note: I hope that I am not overdoing it with the amount of teasing. About watching the games: I cannot even begin to imagine how nightmare like it must be for a little girl to watch cruel scenes in the games, which would in today's real world allowed to be seen by adults only.]_


	6. Chapter 6 - The internship

**Chapter 6: The internship**

_[Autumn and Winter after 69__th__ Hunger Games]_

Sooner than we liked, the summer holidays were over and school started again. Prim was now in second grade, and I started my second last year of school. Prim did not even try to stay away from me at school. Rather, on the days when we had afternoon lessons, she always sat next to me during lunch break, and we shared our respective lunches. Sometimes she had some leftovers from what Katniss and her father had brought back from hunting, like berries and cold meat, while I mostly had cheese buns, pastries and bread; sharing helped to complement our meals, and we were both very happy with that. Every time the weather allowed, we ate our lunch outside, and sometimes she even had a quick nap on my lap. When we had study sessions, she always shared a desk with me, did not hesitate to ask me when she had some questions on her homework, and I sometimes shared some parts of what I had learned, or we tested each other on topics we had to learn for an examination. We were seen holding hands and hugging each other and did not worry at all about others seeing us.

Same as in last school year, we found that our timetables for Wednesday were compatible, having the last lesson just before lunch. On those days we continued to meet, always walking hand in hand from school. Naturally, lots of students teased us about our friendship again, but contrary to what most assumed, this was not a short lived infatuation or preteen crush, but a real and serious friendship. We deeply cared for each other and did not hesitate to show it at all. Some of my friends did not mind sitting close to us, like my best friend Tyler and Delly Cartwright, the shoemaker's daughter. She was actually a friend of our family, being the same age as Peeta, and she and Peeta frequently joined us during lunch break or study sessions. To be honest, I suspected her to have a crush on my youngest brother, but wasn't really sure about that.

As autumn still offered a number of nice and warm days, Prim and I could sometimes meet in the meadow again. A large blanket on the grass shielded off the humidity, and when Prim mentioned that she was getting a little bit cold, I tenderly wrapped my arms around her and shared some of my body heat, which she obviously liked, and I also enjoyed having her that close to me. Somehow the blond girl was becoming my personal sunshine in life, and having her close to me seemed absolutely natural.

Of course, Prim had more questions each time, and on one of those days in October, when we had for some reason talked about our friends and who was seeing or going steady with whom, she sat next to me, turned her face towards me, and asked:

"Are most couples boyfriend and girlfriend before they get married?"

"Hm, I am not sure", I replied, "but I should think so. It is probably a good idea to know more about each other before deciding to get married, and I assume that most couples are boyfriend and girlfriend, like at school, before they marry, indeed. Sometimes it happens that young people are getting together due to a marriage contract their parents had decided on, but I know that my Dad would never do that to me without my approval. Why do you ask?"

"I was kind of curious about the difference between getting married and being boyfriend and girlfriend. Girls are talking about that stuff at school, you know."

"I see. Well, young people usually decide on their own if they want to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but some children change their respective partners quite frequently. Nevertheless it is a certain kind of commitment, as I told you last time we talked about it. Getting married is a major decision in life, and with marriage you enter into a very serious commitment ideally for lifetime. Couples raising a child without being married are typically frowned upon, and with marriage you are always supposed to be available for your partner and spend time with them, and usually marriage partners dearly love each other. I think you can see this with your own parents, can't you?"

"Sure, my parents show that and they do love each other, but yours do not."

"Yes, unfortunately this happens from time to time, and even getting married is not a guarantee for being happy with each other for life. However, once two people have realized that the partner they have found is the one they want to spend their remaining life with, marriage is the logical conclusion, and marriage is actually a prerequisite for certain benefits."

"Which benefits?"

"For instance, married couples usually get much better housing than single people. If I wanted to apply for housing on my own when I am old enough, I might get a very small apartment, but if I was married, I'd more likely to get a nice house with rooms for children."

"But you can marry only when you are old enough, right?"

"True, normally at the age of 18. There may be a few exceptions, but according to what I know this seems to be the normal limit. There is a reason behind that, of course. Children are not expected to be sure about their selection of life partners when they are younger, I guess."

"Well", Prim continued while looking straight into my eyes, "considering that we obviously will have to wait for more than ten years before we can get married, wouldn't it make sense for us to be at least boyfriend and girlfriend for the time until marriage?"

"Wait...what?"

Prim repeated her question, and I shook my head: "Did you actually just talk about us getting married?"

"Of course I did, silly!" Prim confirmed, apparently not understanding why I was confused and surprised. "Why do you even ask? We like each other a lot, we are not related, we enjoy each other's company, you are able to comfort me better than my parents can. When I am with you, I feel at home, even more so than when I am with my parents – you are the one person I will want to spend my adult life with. So, of course we will get married as soon as I am old enough, the question is only if you'd like to call me your girlfriend for the time until that can happen? I'd very much like that, you know."

I was called 'silly' by her because I did not get that we were destined to be married? Had a seven year old girl really just told me what to do and kind of proposed?

"Uhm, maybe I will need to talk to your parents about that as well, as you are a minor and all that..." I stuttered.

"That's done already" Prim smiled. "Of course I have talked to Mom and Dad first, and they do not mind us getting married."

"Yes, but please let me talk to your parents alone, please!" I pleaded. I had no idea why we were having this conversation, and I had no idea how to properly respond either; this was totally unexpected for me, although not entirely unwelcome.

"Okay, do that and we will talk again!"

In the evening on the next day, when Mr. Everdeen had returned home from the mines, I asked to talk to Prim's parents alone, and I told them what Prim had suggested. Seeing my flushed and confused face they both laughed, and Mrs. Everdeen explained:

"Yes, we were quite surprised as well to hear what Prim's vision seems to be, and we can understand that she caught you by surprise and you are quite confused now. Of course we are fully aware of her age, and most likely she will change her plans sooner or later. You probably know as well as we do that kids sometimes have a short term crush on others, but at the latest with puberty coming all bets are off. Now let me ask you this: What are your feelings for our youngest daughter?"

I hesitated, but decided that I needed to answer truthfully: "I deeply care for Prim. While I am not fully sure I should call it love, I very much enjoy to have her around, and she is the sunshine of my life, if you allow me to say so. I would do almost anything for her, and I have thought a few times already that I'd gladly wait until she is old enough and then propose to her, if she still wants to have me then, that is."

Mrs. Everdeen nodded and looked at me warmly: "I thought so. Actually, the way you look at Prim tells me quite well how you feel, as it is almost the same as my husband's when he looked at me when we courted. If you want, you can agree to marry here, just know that she will almost certainly change her mind sooner or later, and please do not be angry with her when she does. About being boyfriend and girlfriend, this is also all right with us, as long as your are careful with what you are doing. You are sometimes almost glued to each other anyway, so that this would not make much of a difference, and if she likes being your girlfriend and this is fine with you, why not."

Mr. Everdeen added with a smirk: "As a matter of fact, we were already thinking to ask you if you wanted to sign a marriage contract with her. We cannot fail to see how good you are for her and how happy she is around you. However, no offense, but we'd like her to get the chance to make her own choice when she's old enough, and that choice might be different from her current preference. In addition, we feel like it's also unfair to you, as you would have to wait for ten years or so until you can actually wed."

He let that sink in and continued: "We really trust you with Prim, but: Father's warning – hurt her and I will break your legs!"

Wow, that had turned out in a different way than I had thought, for sure. Should I consider myself engaged now?

Actually, when I went home on that day, I decided to play a little bit of a prank to my father, and greeted him like this: "Dad, can you believe that I am about to get engaged?"

"What is this?" was his first confused response.

"Prim proposed to me!" I liked him too much to keep him in suspense for long, and thus I repeated what Prim had suggested and what the Everdeens had told me about it.

"All right", he said, laughing a little, "this is fine for me, too. You can go ahead as planned, as I think the same as her parents do – sooner or later she will grow out of her crush, and when this happens, I hope that you're not going to be too disappointed and sad; I don't want you to suffer from heartsickness for a longer period of time! Above and beyond that, if you hurt this sweet little girl, I will gladly help Primrose's father to do what he threatened to do to you!"

It just so happened that we soon got the next chance to go to the meadow again on a very nice and sunny day in autumn. I had decided to do this in a formal and old fashioned way and play along with her as well as a I could, although I sometimes was not fully sure at all if this was really a 'game'.

Once we were settled and comfortable, I said formally: "Prim, your parents confirmed what you said, and I am allowed to ask for your hand in marriage. Will you please agree to wed me when you are old enough and be my girlfriend for the time being? Will you also wear this promise ring as a reminder of our bond?"

I did not get down on one knee as I had seen people do in some old books, but we were on our knees on the blanket anyway. I even had a present for her – a small ring with a tiny artificial gem, roughly matching her eye color.

Prim jumped up and beamed: "Oh Rye, yes of course – I am glad that you ask so nicely! And you even have a ring for me! I love you!" With those words spoken, she jumped into my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me as tightly as she could, and I could even feel her body trembling a little from excitement.

Wow – that was more of a reaction than I had expected, although I needed to be careful to interpret the word 'love' properly as a child's infatuation. I did not hesitate to reply accordingly, saying: "I love you too, my dear Primrose!" and I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. I did not feel like I was lying with that, as I really loved her, just not the 'try to get her undressed as quickly as possible' love, but more the 'love to be together with you and spend time with you' or 'deeply care for you' love.

Well, it certainly looked like I had a girlfriend now, and hand in hand we walked back to the Everdeen home. In the evening, the Hawthornes and I stayed for supper. Mr. Everdeen and Mr. Hawthorne came back from their work in the mines together, and after eating we had quite a nice conversation.

Prim being herself, of course, was way too proud and happy to keep the news for herself, and she blurted out to all of us, with a wide smile on her face: "Rye and I are getting married, and until I am old enough, he is going to be my boyfriend!"

Katniss was kind of shocked: "Prim, you are way too young to have a boyfriend and to even think about marriage!"

Prim had told me many times before that she shared a lot of her thoughts with her sister and that they frequently talked about their respective feelings and concerns before getting to sleep in the room they shared, but apparently Prim had managed to keep that particular topic to herself.

Mrs. Everdeen tried to calm her down: "Katniss, it's all right. Primrose has asked us before, your father and I talked about it, and we gave our permission. Ryan is kind of family anyway, and it appears like he makes your sister happy. As long as he manages to do that, he is quite welcome to be her boyfriend."

I noticed the underlying hint and threat that this was not a general permission for everything, and I was rather supposed to prove my worth while it lasted. Mrs. Hawthorne, best friend of Mrs. Everdeen, had been informed before, and Rory, their son in Prim's age, was joking and asked if he was supposed to call me 'Uncle' now.

Prim being Prim, she was not going to hide our new status in school either, and within a few days the entire school knew that she was my girlfriend now. I was not ashamed of that at all, but naturally the teasing reached a new level. A couple of the teachers even asked me about it and got a little bit concerned due to our age difference, but I could assure them that her parents were in full agreement. I did not mind the teasing much, and I knew that this would taper off a few weeks later.

While we still heard some occasional remarks about our friendship, most schoolmates had only expected this to last for a few weeks. Seeing that our relation seemed to be long term, it slowly migrated from being 'odd' or 'hilarious' to 'normal'.

Still sometimes I was getting questions about that. For instance, Tyler asked one day: "We have a lot of hot chicks at school, and I am sure that you have noticed that. You know that quite a few girls are secretly swooning over you, right? You have realized that the visitor's benches during wrestling practice are mostly filled with girls who want to see strong boys clad in tight wrestling outfit, haven't you? Surely your young girlfriend should understand that sometimes you need a girl closer to your own age."

I knew that he was not fully serious, and I explained: "Tyler, it's not like that. Yes, I have noticed the swooning girls, but they don't bother me at all. Whenever I look into another girl's face, I see Prim's face next to it, and I immediately realize whom I belong to and whom I love – it is as simple as that."

"Wow," Tyler replied, "it looks like you are fully committed."

"Yes I am" I nodded, and this was the full truth.

On one day in early winter I was asked to come to Mayor Undersee's office when I could find the time. I had no clue why, but on the next Saturday I got dressed in my best clothes and walked over, telling the receptionist that the Mayor had asked to talk to me. I had to wait for ten minutes or so, and then I was guided into his plush office.

Mayor Undersee got up from his chair and shook my hand: "Ryan Mellark, good to see you – how are you doing?"

I replied politely: "Mayor Undersee, it is an honor to be here. How are you, sir, and how can I be of assistance?"

He smiled: "Getting straight to the point – I like that! Well, you obviously are aware of the fact that I am looking for an administration assistant. More precisely, I need somebody who can not only help in the office, but also outside with work like snow shoveling and such. The Capitol refuses to grant the money for a full time position, and all I can offer at this time is a part time internship, but you are still in school yet anyway. To be honest, originally I had somebody else in mind for that, but that boy got chosen as tribute last summer and is no longer available."

I nodded when I heard that. Richard, this year's male tribute, had been quite a capable student at school. I had not been close to him, but knew that he was missed by many friends. Meanwhile, the Mayor continued:

"I have looked at your grades, and I have also noticed that you have a history in wrestling. In addition, I have not forgotten the effort your father and you spent one year ago to help others in dispersing sand on walkways when ice covered everything. If you are willing to give it a shot, I will take you as an intern. I know that you don't have much time left between school and the bakery, but I only except you to be working for me between five and ten hours a week – do you think that this works for you?"

I was quite excited to hear that and replied: "I am honored to hear that, Mayor Undersee. I would like to accept, but of course I will need to ask my father for permission first."

He nodded and handed over a few sheets of paper: "This is the contract I offer. When you graduate from school and I am happy with your work, I hope that I can offer a real job, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee that. Why don't you talk it over with your parents and let me know as soon as you can. I hope to see you soon again!"

With those words I was shown out of the mayor's office again; happy about the mayor's proposal I quickly walked home to talk to Dad.

My father was not really surprised to hear about the mayor's offer. He had been aware of Mayor Undersee's effort to get an assistant for some time, and he thought that this was a good opportunity for me:

"Son, I think that you should really accept this offer. Once you have been an intern for a year or two, you may have a chance to prove yourself invaluable, and maybe this can turn out to be a full position later on. Even if it does not, working for the mayor's office gives a chance to meet other people and potentially find another job. Let me have a look at the contract, and if there's nothing bad in it, I will sign it right away."

"Dad," I asked, "why is it that Mayor Undersee cannot simply decide to hire an assistant? Why does he need permission from the Capitol for that?"

"Son," my father cautiously responded, "a district mayor is not an almighty ruler, but more a representative for the Capitol, and I think that they prefer to have full control over what happens in the districts."

I nodded, and ten minutes later I had the signed contract in my hands and could take it back to Mayor Undersee a few days later. He appreciated my fast response and welcomed me to the office with a warm handshake. We discussed work hours, and for the start I was going to work five or six hours per weeks, more during school holidays; this was just fine for me, and Dad had agreed to reduce my bakery hours in compensation for that. The mayor was going to pay only a very small amount of money as salary, but that was all right.

Late November and early December were warmer than usual, and there was one Wednesday which was particularly nice, so that I packed a picnic basket again, together with a couple of warm blankets. Prim jumped up and down excitedly and showed a very wide smile when I told her after school that we were going to the meadow again today. Before eating, I carefully placed one of the blankets on the ground to ward off the cold seeping from the cold soil and offered the other one to Prim, to use if she got cold. However, for an hour or two at least, the sun was shining brightly on us, and even a few birds sang, which was quite unusual for this time of the year.

We enjoyed eating and drinking for some time without talking much, but later on Prim started to look towards the fence and the area beyond it. Her eyes had a kind of dreamy look, and she started to say:

"You know, Rye, sometimes I would like to know what's beyond the fence. It would be so nice to be able to go there and explore. Dad has told a few fairy tales about beautiful meadows, tall and colorful trees, green grass and a nice lake, with dragonflies and butterflies dancing around, but none of us have the chance to go there."

I assumed that Prim still did not know and should not know about the hunting activities outside of the fence her father and sister were engaged in on a regular basis and thus replied carefully:

"Well, we have been told that wild and dangerous animals lurk further out, and if we did not have the fence, they might attack us in the district."

"And yet," Prim commented, "I have not seen one of those animals outside."

"Me neither," I had to admit, "but maybe they are normally further out."

"Sometimes," Prim continued, with a somewhat dreamlike expression on her face, "when I sit here, I can let my fantasy go and start daydreaming about what could be further out there. You know, there could just be more forest, or some meadows, or hills and grass, or some scenic lakes with water lilies, or all of that; I think about wonderful and beautiful flowers, colorful birds, and cute animals which I can pet. There could be fairies or dwarves or maybe leprechauns, guarding a pot of gold under the end of a rainbow."

"But maybe" I could not resist the temptation to tease her a little "there are dangerous animals out there to get you once you get close to their lair. Or the dwarfs and goblins might want to catch you to make you work in their mines!"

"Maybe," she nodded, "but that should not be a problem if I have Dad with me – he could shoot the animals, and he would never allow the goblins to get me."

To distract Prim from her thoughts I asked her if she wanted to have some fun. She looked up at me, not sure what I meant, and I lifted her up in my arms and finally threw her up in the air a little before catching her again. Prim squealed, and her eyes clearly told me she liked it. I threw her a little bit higher, and eventually as high as I could. My arm muscles were trained by hard working the bakery, and Prim was not very heavy, so that I could do this easily several times. Prim obviously loved it and told me so, and thus we had quite a lot of fun together on that day, before we finally had to quit and go home.

This nice day was the last one we could use to go to the meadow for some time; soon after that, winter set in with snow and low temperatures, and we spent our time together inside, either in my room above the bakery or in the Everdeen home's living room – the bedroom Prim shared with Katniss was too small for learning or playing together.

As in the winter before, I sometimes helped with chopping firewood or snow shoveling and occasionally brought a few pastries to the Everdeen home, and on a few days when enough snow had fallen in the night before, I played games with Prim, such as making a snowman and throwing snowballs. Playing in the snow could be a lot of fun, if you had a nice room to warm up afterwards close by. I had thought that the times of playing in the snow were behind me, and even Wheat considered that to be no longer appropriate for his age, but Peeta also joined sometimes.

In early December we got a day off school, as the annual victory tour was due. Similar to last year, all citizens had to gather in the town square and listen to speeches from the mayor and from the victor. Again similar to last year, the victor pretended to memorize our district's tributes, but as they had died early on, it was obvious that he did not really care. The harsh words bothered Prim, and she was in tears again when the victor entered the train again to travel back to the Capitol or his own district.

Even next day in school her face clearly showed that she had cried, and she wasn't the only one. I was quite frustrated about the impression the Capitol forced on us with all of that show, but I had been taught early on not to complain about it in public. Dispraise of the Capitol or the Games could, if overheard by Peacekeepers, easily result in public whipping or worse.

All I could do was to find my little friend and comfort her whenever possible.

_[Author's Note: I so want Prim to have a real good friend and a long term perspective. I realize that it is somewhat unlikely for a seven year old girl to be that sure about whom to marry – let's see if Prim sticks to her view when she gets older.]_


	7. Chapter 7 - The mine accident

**Chapter 7: The mine accident**

_[Winter after 69__th__ Hunger Games]_

Christmas was now close, and I was invited by the Everdeen family to lunch on the second day of Christmas, which was for some reason called 'boxing day' by some people. While the Capitol granted few holidays, the coal miners got the afternoon of December 24th and the 25th and 26th off; even the Capitol conceded that people needed time to rest and relax with their families at least a few times a year.

My own family started to celebrate Christmas already in the evening of December 24th and always had a big family lunch on the 25th. We had learned at school that people in some other districts only started the celebrations in the morning of December 25th. Most had a small fir tree at home, either a cut one in the living room or a live one outside, with some decorations on it, and gifts were exchanged, although the historical background for doing that was lost.

For our family lunch, my father had asked Mr. Everdeen some time ago to bring a deer for trading, if he could, and as the hunter managed to bring in a nice deer carcass a few days prior to Christmas, father generously handed out bread and pastries for it, so that I was sure that the Everdeens could indulge for the next few days.

"Sons," he told my brothers and me, "we got the deer, and this ensures that we can have a nice and traditional roast venison for Christmas day. Let's also makes sure that we have proper presents for all those we love and for our customers!"

It was a bakery tradition to hand over small gifts, like special Christmas cookies, to our customers who came in in the week prior to Christmas. Special people, like Mayor Undersee, got a selection of cookies delivered to their homes. Father had a few recipes for very delicious Christmas biscuits and cookies, and a lot of our customers came into the bakery more than once just to get a few of them. Even most Peacekeepers could not resist the temptation, and Dad gave them plenty, as it was always a good idea to have Peacekeepers as friends.

The gifts we prepared for our friends and relatives were simple ones; nobody could spare the money to buy expensive gifts, well, maybe except the Undersee family and of course Haymitch, but he was probably too drunk to care about Christmas gifts. Peeta baked a few special cupcakes and made some sketches and drawings, Wheat wrote a few short stories – he was quite good in something he called 'fanfiction' – and I also prepared some special cookies shaped as primroses and other flowers, with various frosting colors. In addition, I had noticed that Prim's winter boots were quite worn, and I doubted that her parents could easily afford to get her new boots. Weeks ago already I had 'borrowed' a pair of her shoes, taken it to the shoemaker's shop a few houses from ours and asked that they make a new pair of warm winter boots, a size or two larger than the shoes I brought. I had paid with some of my allowance and a special bag of Christmas cookies, and the boots were ready now. Delly had told me when I picked up the boots:

"Ryan, this is so sweet of you to think of such a gift for young Primrose; please let me know if they fit, and if they don't, we can do changes as needed."

First we had our own festivities and, after sitting together with candles lit in the evening of December 24th, exchanged our presents. Most of them were not real surprises, but my brother Wheat was always good for a prank. His gift for Peeta this year was a big ice ball 'to further improve his frosting skills', and I got – I could not believe it, and I did not really want to know where he got if from – a small lipstick. He grinned while handing it over, obviously waiting for me to ask why, and finally I gave up and asked. He grinned even more and said:

"You see, you should pass it on to Prim, and when she uses it and you kiss her, you get it back over time!"

Even my father could not keep himself from laughing, and in this way we continued to have a wonderful evening. The roast venison lunch on the next day was a great success as well, and we all enjoyed our quiet days off with the bakery being closed. I actually managed to sleep in a little on the morning of December 26th, and soon after a small and late breakfast I picked up my presents and slowly made my way into the Seam, enjoying the brisk and clear winter air and the snow on the ground. Prim was already waiting and looking out of the window, and she quickly jumped out when she saw me.

While Mrs. Everdeen was finishing lunch preparations together with Katniss in the kitchen, Mr. Everdeen, Prim, and I were having some small talk in the living room, talking about the winter and about past Christmas celebrations. They had had some tough years with cold winters, barely enough firewood, and game being scarce, but they had always managed to stick together and somehow survive. I realized that just surviving was sometimes a challenge in the Seam. We bakers had had tough times, too, but we always had a warm home and sufficient food at least.

Half an hour later lunch was served, and they had a fantastic stew of rabbit and squirrel. While we were eating, Mrs. Everdeen commented that it was a pity that we could not get fresh vegetables in winter. I had to agree, but there was not much we could do about it. After lunch we exchanged our presents. Mrs. Everdeen had prepared a small first aid package plus a few medical bottles for me, 'to be prepared for bakery accidents' as she said. Prim had a few drawings and admitted that Peeta had helped her, and I handed over the flower shaped cookies – a small bag for everybody, with the katniss shaped ones for Katniss and the primrose shaped ones for Prim, of course – and finally the wrapped boots for Prim. She was getting quite curious to find out what was hidden in the wrapping, and when she had unwrapped the boots, her jaw dropped down and she was speechless for the moment. Mrs. Everdeen eventually said:

"Ryan, I am not sure if we can accept such a generous gift!"

I had expected that problem and thus had a justification ready: "Mrs. Everdeen, your daughter has given me so many nice and enjoyable hours and blessed me with her charming presence; this is just a small token of my appreciation."

Mr. Everdeen now cut in: "Bless you, Ryan. Prim's old boots were getting quite worn, and I had already planned to go to the cobbler for a new set of used boots; those are right on time, although I have to agree that this is too much."

I confirmed again: "I understand your concern, but please grant me the favor to spoil your daughter a little."

Meanwhile Prim had tried the boots and found that they were almost a perfect fit; maybe a little bit too large, but she would grow into them. After listening to our conversation she insisted:

"There's no way I am giving those boots back! Mom, Dad, please?"

Katniss also mumbled something like "Since when do we take expensive gifts from Merchants?" but finally Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen gave up their resistance and allowed their daughter to keep the boots. They warned me though:

"Ryan, please do not make this a habit!"

Politely I responded: "I will try not to do this on a regular basis, but please allow me to spoil Prim a little bit at least on Christmas and on her birthday."

Mr. Everdeen looked at his wife, and after getting silent approval, he nodded and said: "All right, we can live with that. You know, you are the first one outside of the family caring so much for her, and we need some time to get used to that."

Right after that, Prim insisted that we get outside for a short time as she wanted to find out how warm her new boots were. Half an hour later she was happily announcing that her feet were still as warm as before and that the boots were just perfect. We were allowed to get inside again and exchanged a few more stories, while later on enjoying a cup of tea. When I finally left close to dusk, we all agreed that this had been a nice Christmas day and that we had been happy together.

A few days later a blizzard howled through the district and brought an accumulation of more then half a meter of snow. Almost everybody stayed at home and kept the fire going, and we were happy to know that the bakery was sturdily built of stone and solid masonry, as were most other buildings in the 'Merchant' area. The 'Seam' houses were built of wood and much less sturdy, and I started to wonder if they could withstand that much snow. School was closed for a few days.

As soon as the blizzard abated and the sun came out, I asked Wheat if he wanted to get outside, and we both dressed in our warmest furs and tallest boots, picking snow shovels. First we cleared the entrance to the bakery, and while we were doing that, Mayor Undersee came in his small ATV, barely able to traverse the streets. He was glad to see me:

"Ryan, I need your help. I have heard rumors that some Seam homes have been damaged by the snow, and please come and help me to assess the damage."

I joined him in his vehicle immediately, and we drove towards the Seam. Surprisingly, most houses had survived quite well, at least those with roofs steep enough to make excessive snow glide down with gravity. A few houses, in particular the Hawthorne home, showed a caved in roof, and the mayor dropped me there to help with repairs. Gale and a few other boys had already started working, but they really needed adult help – the men had to go working in the mines and were not even allowed to take a few days off to repair their own homes. Fortunately Mayor Undersee sent some peacekeepers, and although they were quite reluctant, they helped at least with the very worst damage which needed to be fixed quickly before nightfall.

Gale shouted in my direction: "Hey, Mellark, what do you want?"

I replied politely: "The mayor has sent me to help, and that's what I intend to do."

Gale clearly did not like that: "We can take care of our own!"

I could not resists the temptation to tell him: "And how are you going to do that with the adult men being working? Shouldn't you want to accept more help to get your family's home repaired as quickly as possible?"

Gale was quiet now, and we got to work. It turned out that Gale was, maybe by necessity, quite knowledgeable in house repairs, and I assumed that he probably had been engaged in similar activities, either at this own home or other houses in the neighborhood. I learned that his mother and the younger kids had temporarily moved to the Everdeen home in the morning, but they were going to be very crowded there. Gale and a few boys his age tried to hasten the work, but as the boys were only about 12 or 13 years old, they lacked the bodily strength for some tasks, and this was where I came in. We worked with few interruptions until almost dusk, and at the end of the day we were sweating a lot and we were dirty and exhausted, but the work was done and the Hawthorne home was ready for their family again.

Before dark settled in, Katniss came along with warm food for all of us. She had been hunting and had traded what she got for food in the hob; the Peacekeepers had already left, but Gale and I devoured the food. Mrs. Hawthorne returned with her younger sons, and she warmly thanked me for the help, while Gale just nodded.

Over the next few days, more repair was requires to some other houses, and it turned out that Mayor Undersee considered this as part of my internship and paid extra for that.

"It is a pity," he said. "We have quite a number of strong Peacekeepers, but they are not supposed to be used for mundane tasks such as house repairs, except for emergencies. Getting you to help is all I can do for the time being. I wish that I could do more!"

Until recently I had thought of the mayor like an almost almighty person, ruling the district as he wanted, but this was the second time I realized that he was far from almighty; the first time had been when he wanted to promise me a full time job as administrator, but could not. Apparently he had to work within strict boundaries and limits, and it seemed to bother him when help was needed somewhere in the district and he could not do much about it.

As the next day was a Wednesday, first day of school being open again, I walked with Prim to the Everdeen house after school. After a warm greeting from Mrs. Everdeen I asked if their house also needed some repairs. She sighed a little and replied:

"You'd better ask what is not in need of repair. I really don't want to bother you with that, but keeping a house in order is very difficult when one's husband is working full time in the mines, proper material is almost impossible to get, and we have to improvise almost everything."

I had not realized that the situation was that bad. Sure, our Merchant homes were not luxury villas either and there was always something which could be repaired or improved, but overall we had decent homes at least.

For now, I asked what the worst problem was, and Mrs. Everdeen told me that the roof was leaking, and the worst spot was in Katniss' and Prim's room. I had Prim show me, and they had a bucket placed under the spot. A thick layer of snow was still on the roof, and the slowly melting snow caused drops of water falling down in regular intervals. As I was not afraid of climbing on a roof, I asked Prim to open the window and help me to identify the spot. In short time I had climbed on the roof above Prim's and Katniss' room and started to push a stick through the snow to make some noise. Prim could hear the noise and directed me to the right place. Quickly I removed the snow there and found that a roof tile had simply shifted, maybe due to snow pressure, and after a few attempts I managed to move it back in place, and soon Prim shouted through the window that the dripping slowed down. While doing that I noticed that quite a few tiles were almost broken. Back on the ground I reported to Prim's mother:

"Mrs. Everdeen, I believe that I was able to fix the worst leak in the upstairs bedroom. However, I could not avoid to notice that more sections of the roof are damaged, and sooner or later more repair will have to be done."

"Thank you for that, Ryan." Mrs. Everdeen replied. "I know about the overall situation more or less, but what can I do? Do you know a place where to buy new roof tiles?"

I did not and told her so, but I planned to ask some people about that.

For next Wednesday, as there was still a lot of snow outside and temperatures were consistently below zero, I had planned a baking session with Prim. Once we got to the bakery, we first spent an hour or so with homework, and then I asked her:

"I don't think that being outside a lot is appealing today. What about baking something together?"

Prim beamed at me: "Yes, I would like that!"

I had already done some preparations earlier, and while Dad worked in another corner of the big back room and Mom tended to customers in the front, I started to work on cheese buns today. Somehow my girlfriend and I were both in a quite cheery mood, and we needed to be careful to focus on the baking stuff. Prim was trying to stir the dough, and when she applied more force to get through, a large splatter of dough attached itself to her cheek, and she did not even notice right away. I grinned, took another splatter and put in on her other cheek. Now she looked at me and asked with a smile:

"What was that for?"

"Well," I replied with a smirk, "you got a splatter on your left cheek, and I thought that your right one might want to have one, too!"

Not even trying to remove the splatters she looked around, found some flour, and dusted my right arm with it, saying:

"Looks like you have some flour spots on your arm here!"

Now we both started to laugh, and soon the baking migrated into having fun and we were getting ourselves mixed up in bakery ingredients, until my Dad finally stopped us, although he was laughing as well. We actually managed to complete the dough and put the buns into the oven, but then Dad sent us upstairs for cleaning and promised that he was going to remove the trays from the oven in time.

Up in my room we both noticed that our clothes were stained, and both of us needed a shower. As I knew that the Everdeen homes did not have showers, like almost all Seam houses, I politely offered Prim to take a shower here, and she smiled and agreed. I went into the bathroom with her and showed her how to operate the shower and where the soap and towels were, and then I went back to my room to give her a chance to shower first.

Apparently she enjoyed the shower, and it took about twenty minutes before the water stopped flowing, Meanwhile, I had had a quick shower and changed in my brother's bathroom and was soon back on my bed, browsing a book. I heard the bathroom door open behind me and Prim asking:

"Rye, do you have something to wear for me? My own clothes are all dirty!"

Of course I assumed that she would have a towel wrapped around her or at least wearing her underwear, so that I was totally caught by surprise when I turned around to see her fully naked, with a towel just wrapped around her hair. Rather than answering her question, I first gulped and was not sure if I was supposed to enjoy the view or look in another direction. I really should not have that kind of problem – Prim was seven years old and like my little sister, right? Why was I embarrassed?

When my answer did not come right away, she asked: "Rye, what's wrong? Am I still dirty?"

I managed to respond: "I just did not expect to see you naked, that's all."

"But Rye," Prim giggled and stated, "you shouldn't have a problem with that. Mom and Dad have both said that you are practically family. Also, I need you to tell me if I have managed to clean myself properly. I am not used to taking a shower, after all."

"Yes," I managed to reply, "as far as I can tell, you are nice and clean now. Sorry for being confused; as I do not have a sister, you just caught me by surprise."

Prim needed to remind me of her first question, and I searched in my dresser, to finally find an old sweatshirt of mine, which I had worn years ago, when I was smaller and my shoulders not as broad as they were today. When Prim wore it, the seam reached down almost to her knees, but she claimed that this was all right.

"Tell you what," I said, "why don't you stay here, rest on my bed, and read something, and I ask Katniss or your Mom for some proper clothes for you at your home – all right? I will tell Wheat and Peeta and Dad to make sure my mother does not come into my room."

Downstairs I advised Dad of the situation and then I ran over to the Everdeen home. Finding Mrs. Everdeen and Katniss inside, I told them:

"Is there a chance that you could get me another set of clothes for Prim, please? We got dirty from baking, and I got her into my shower, but her own clothes are too stained and dirty to wear again."

Katniss looked at me with a very threatening look, and if her glares had been able to kill, I would have been dead in an instant: "You dared to get her naked and in your shower? Who do you think you are?"

Mrs. Everdeen stepped in: "Katniss, let this poor boy complete his explanation first, will you?"

By now I had understood that my first statement had some potential for misinterpretation and explained in more detail: "She used my shower and I used my brother's shower, and when she found that her clothes were too dirty, I gave her one of my old sweatshirts to wear, but I guess that she will want to have proper clothes for walking home."

Mrs. Everdeen nodded and sent Katniss upstairs to get a set for Prim. I further asked: "Would you want me to get Prim's dirty clothes getting washed?"

"No," she replied, "I will take care of that, but thank you for offering."

"Maybe," I started to ask, "for future baking sessions, we could take a set of spare clothes and keep it in my dresser, so that she has something to change into if we get dirty?"

"A good idea in general;" Mrs. Everdeen smiled, "but you see, we don't have that many spare clothes, and at least as long as she is growing, we cannot really afford to get additional ones, as she will grow out of them too soon."

I understood and suggested: "Of course, I see. Maybe I could try to find a few baking aprons my brothers and myself used when we were younger, to see if one of them fits her. As a matter of fact, I should have done that right from the start."

Katniss brought Prim's clothes and I left again. Back in my room above the bakery I found Prim in my bed beneath the covers, and rather than getting up, she sighed: "Rye, your bed is so soft and warm and cozy; I want to stay here for a while."

I was not quite sure how to reply, but finally came up with: "But Prim, your sister and mother are going to miss you!"

"Right" she said and sighed, and I gave her the clothes I had brought, suggesting that she change in the bathroom. While she changed, Wheat came in and told me:

"I have heard that Prim wanted to stay in your bed. My dear brother, what's wrong with you? You got a girl who wants to stay in your bed, and you send her off?"

We both laughed about that, and Wheat actually joined me walking Prim home. Once we were back, I dropped down on my bed and reviewed the day. From what I had seen today, there was one particular thought coming again and again: Prim was a very pretty and sweet girl, and I could imagine that she was going to be a very beautiful woman in ten years or so.

On January 24th in the year of the 70th Hunger Games, there was this tragic accident in the mines. I can still recall the sirens wailing while I was attending a lesson on mathematics at school, and later on in the afternoon rumors came up that a group of miners had been killed deep down in the coal mines; names were not known at this time.

As a matter of fact, events like this one happened from time to time, and coal mining was known to be tedious and dirty as well as dangerous. Father also did not know any details, and as tomorrow was going to be a Wednesday, I decided that I could ask Prim tomorrow; maybe she had heard more about the accident.

To my surprise, Prim was not at school on the next day, so that I was getting concerned a little – maybe she was sick? Naturally, as being her boyfriend, I was supposed to check on how she was doing, but rather than walking to the Everdeen home directly after school I went to the bakery first to get a few pastries, and Dad quickly handed me a few cheese buns which we had available today. After picking a few flowers close to 'our' meadow I knocked at the door of the Everdeen home, and Katniss soon opened, looking very weary and like she had not slept at all since the day before. I politely asked:

"Katniss, are you all right? You are not looking well at all! I am coming to check on Prim, as she was not at school today; is she sick?"

Rather than answering me, Katniss shed a few tears until she managed to tell me: "Our father died in the mine accident yesterday. You may want to go upstairs and comfort Prim – she is not herself at all."

I was quite devastated to hear that. Mr. Everdeen had been a good and kind man, and I could not even start to understand how Prim and Katniss must feel for suddenly losing their father. I made my way upstairs into the girls' bedroom, where I found Prim completely hidden under her covers. She did not notice that I was there right away, until I carefully lifted part of the covers to see her face, which was almost totally red from all of the crying she must have done before. As soon as she realized who had come she jumped into my arms and continued sobbing into my shirt, and we stayed like that for most likely more than two hours. Eventually Katniss came up as well and said in a hushed voice:

"Ryan, I have to admit that I am still prejudiced against Merchant people, but for Prim's sake I am glad that you are here and can give her some solace."

Katniss still refused to use my usual nickname 'Rye', and I wondered if she had somebody providing solace to her? I replied:

"Thank you Katniss. How is your mother doing?"

Katniss shook her head: "When she learned about father's death, she kind of retreated in a shell, and she is almost completely unresponsive; she barely even eats anything. I had to prepare the last few meals and almost force feed her."

I offered: "Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help; can the Hawthornes help out a little?"

Katniss shook her head again: "Mr. Hawthorne was also killed."

That was not good at all. I started to wonder how the two families would be able to survive, with the two main incomes lost. Mrs. Everdeen should be able to make some money with her healing, and Mrs. Hawthorne sometimes helped other families with cleaning and doing laundry for money. Gale was already old enough to sign up for tesserae, and Katniss would be old enough very soon; in addition, she should be old and capable enough to do some hunting, succeeding her father in that.

When dusk came, I left the cheese buns for the girls and went home, reporting what I had heard to my father and brothers. Father nodded:

"Yes, I have heard about that too, by now. Apparently there was a horrible explosion deep in the mines. Some miners escaped with injuries, some others were brought up as corpses, and a few, including Mr. Everdeen and Mr. Hawthorne, were blown into dust as they were too close to the center of the explosion."

My brothers were quite shocked to hear that, and we did not speak much for the rest of the evening.

_[Author's Note: The celebration of Christmas either in the evening of December 24__th__ or in the morning of December 25__th__ reflects different habits in the real world, too. In Germany, for instance, Christmas starts in the evening of December 24__th__ and gifts are exchanged on that evening, typically after attending a church service.]_


	8. Chapter 8 - The bread incident

**Chapter 8: The bread incident**

_[Late winter in the year of the 70__th__ Hunger Games]_

A few days later Katniss and Primrose were back at school, but while Katniss managed to hide her feelings behind a stoic face, poor Prim almost looked like a walking corpse. When we had a break, Prim always found me and buried her head in my shirt or neck, without saying anything. I also had no idea what to say, so that we stayed silent together, which worked quite well for both of us.

At one time, Prim whispered: "How can life go on after this?"

I replied: "How can life go on for families who lose a son or a daughter in the games?"

Prim nodded and fell silent again.

Over the next few weeks I made sure to have lots of time for Prim, and I gave her plenty of opportunities to rest her head at my shoulder and get herself comforted. As I knew that the Everdeen family would not have a surplus of food at home, I brought enough to school for the school lunches to share with Prim, and I asked a few times how her sister was coping. I was concerned about Katniss as well, but she would not let me in and kept to herself very much, and Prim told me that Katniss did not want us to worry about her. I was also told that they had received a small compensation package from the mine administration and that would last them for quite some time. I did not even know if Katniss was hunting; if she did, she did not come to the bakery for trading at least, and we all started to miss the fresh game we had enjoyed before. We could get some meat from the butcher, but it wasn't the same.

Meanwhile, I also spent a few days in the Justice Building and met the mayor for some office work. I took the opportunity to address him and asked:

"Excuse me, sir, I have noticed that quite a few houses in the Seam are in bad need of repair. How can we handle this, and what can we do about it? The strong men in the Seam are all working in the mines and are tired when they get home in the evenings, and even when they have time, there's almost no building material available, at least as far as I know."

Mayor Undersee nodded and looked a little bit sad: "You are right, Ryan, and currently there is not much we can do about it. However, I do have a plan, and I will need your help with that."

This made me curious, and I asked: "You have a plan?"

"Yes," he replied, "let me tell you what I intend to do".

"Part one of the plan" Mayor Undersee elaborated, "is to make the Capitol understand that we need to maintain the Seam houses on a reasonable level. If we can't and don't, more people will get weak and sick, for instance because they get a cold due to rain leaking into homes. More sick people means less coal, and I hope that they understand this. Once they do, they will hopefully increase our allotment of building material, such as bricks, roof tiles, and more."

I nodded, as I saw the logic behind that.

"Part two" Mayor Undersee continued, "involves you. Even when we get more building material, we still lack experts to use it properly, and I doubt that the Capitol will send a group of good craftsmen to our district. I have a few books showing details of house building and maintenance with many illustrations, and I need a couple of young and strong people to get their hands dirty and try what they can do with that. For the start, you can use some old building material from broken houses to practice, but you need a second person. I cannot spare an adult person for that task, but I don't know if there is a boy who would want to assist you, if you feel like you could go in that direction."

Wow, that was quite interesting. Repairing houses sounded much more appealing to me than doing office work, and I had an idea already about whom to ask about assisting. I told the mayor that I need to talk to my father about that proposal and that I would get back to him a few days later.

On the same evening I told Dad what the mayor had told me, and he just responded "Mayor Undersee is a good man, indeed."

We discussed the plan and some details for some time, and he approved. He also asked about the second person I had in mind, but I told him:

"I'd rather not say at this time. Give me some time to ask him first, please."

On the next day I made an afternoon trip into the Seam, but this time I went to the Hawthorne home. Mrs. Hawthorne was not looking good, but at least happy to see me:

"Ryan, is is good to see you again. Please come in and make yourself comfortable!"

I did that and relaxed for a few minutes, chatting with Mrs. Hawthorne, and then I asked: "Mrs. Hawthorne, I would actually like to talk to Marc Pherson and his mother next door. He is in my class at school, but we usually do not talk much. I do have a proposal for him, but he might not believe me. Would you be willing to spend a few minutes and introduce me?"

"Yes," Mrs. Hawthorne replied, "let me go with you and introduce you. You are right – they might not be willing to talk to a Merchant person otherwise, I am afraid."

Next door we found Mrs. Pherson and her oldest son Marc. He was not only in the same class with me, but also one of the very few Seam boys doing wrestling, and he was quite strong. While he and his mother were skeptical at first, Mrs. Hawthorne convinced them to listen.

I started to recapitulate the problem with the house repairs, the lack of building material, and the lack of building and repair experts. After I had mentioned that part, the boy just nodded and said:

"Yes, I know about all of that – get to the point!"

I tried to be patient and continued: "Do you also know that Mayor Undersee tried to help and do something?"

"Ha," he commented, "what can the mayor do?"

"Let me ask something different – what's your goal when you are an adult?"

"What choice do I have – I will have to become a coal miner, I guess."

"Is that what you really want to do?"

"Of course not!" he claimed, "I would rather be outdoors than deep in the mines, and I am sorry for my father that he has to work there. But what kind of choice do we really have?"

Now I had him where I wanted him: "What if the Mayor and I gave you a chance to find some work outdoors, for now in parallel to school, which also allows you to help the Seam residents? Payment is minimum, but we could use you."

It seemed that we was interested now, indeed: "You are telling the truth?"

When I had told him and his mother the entire story, Marc started to smile and look happy, and he admitted that this was the kind of work he would love to do, even if there was no payment at all. That was all I needed to know for now. I asked if he would be willing to walk with me to the Mayor's office tomorrow and get the story officially confirmed, and he agreed.

When we were almost done talking Gale came over. It turned out that he was, although being a few years younger, a very good friend of his neighbor's son Marc. I had seen Gale trying his best in doing some repairs on his own, and while his strength and experience were not good enough yet, he had shown quite some skill. I repeated most of what I had said to Marc and added:

"Gale, I know that you may not like the idea, but I have seen that you appear to be quite skilled in craftsmanship. If you want, you could help Marc and me getting into that particular work, and I can even get you a little pay for that. Above and beyond that, this is a good step towards helping other Seam people, I think."

He was reluctant and mumbled: "I do not work together with a Merchant!"

I tried a different approach: "Well, you don't have to. Thinking about it, you are probably too young and too weak anyway, and I should look for an older and stronger boy to assist..."

It appeared that I was on the right track as he almost interrupted me: "I will show you about being too weak and too young – I can do better than most older boys!"

"All right," I said happily, "I am willing to stand corrected if you are able to prove that!"

Of course we need to talk this over with Mrs. Hawthorne as well, but she thought that this was an excellent idea to get her oldest son busy with something useful, so that this was settled.

A couple of weeks later the temperature rose above zero overnight, and when the sun started to glare from a blue sky in addition, lots of that accumulated snow started to melt almost faster than one could watch, and within hours some streets had turned into sets of big puddles. Even worse, the water was close to get into some houses, and Mayor Undersee had a new task for me. He was getting concerned about flooding, and while the Merchant quarter had a proper sewer system, which was needed for some of the businesses there, the Seam did not.

Together with a couple of peacekeepers I walked round to find out which houses were endangered most by potential flooding, and while the peacekeepers returned to their duty, I was supposed to help where I could. My new assistant Marc was willing to help after school, and we did our best to dig some additional trenches where needed. Naturally, at the end of the day I was sweaty and dirty, but we were able to prevent a number of houses to be partially flooded.

Nonetheless, a few Seam families lost their homes in the next few days; we simply did not have enough manpower and resources to save them all. Mayor Undersee approved a move for the affected families, and as as had a number of empty houses in the Seam, they could find new accommodations quickly. In addition, the mayor approved some emergency rations, as the last train which was supposed to bring the monthly tesserae delivery had been delayed by snow and flooding.

I had been able to work on those tasks for a few full days as even the school had been closed for almost a week. After work was done, the mayor gave me a few days off, and I must have slept for twelve hours at least. Dad understood that I had been quite busy and abstained from having me work in the bakery on the next few days, which gave me a chance to relax and recover. Actually, Prim had noticed my hard work against snow and water, and she stopped by to see me on Saturday and found me half asleep still in my room. When she noticed how sleepy I still looked, she sat down on the edge of the bed, told me to turn around and lie on my belly, and started to stroke and scratch my neck and back, finding her way underneath the pyjama top I wore.

It took me some time to realize what she was doing, as my mind was still half asleep and I just enjoyed he attention without consciously noticing what she was doing. Eventually I asked:

"Prim, how did you learn to do this? This is really nice and relaxing."

The young girl replied: "My Mom taught me how to make injured people relax to pay less attention to pain and to get to sleep more easily. I just though that you might like it."

"I do, a lot!" I confirmed. "You can do this anytime you want."

After I had enjoyed her ministrations for some time, I sleepily asked: "Does somebody do that for you, too, at some time?"

Prim nodded and replied: "Yes, Dad did sometimes. But he was working so long in the mines, that he rarely had time to do it."

Naturally, just thinking of her father made her sad, and when she thought about it, tears started to roll down her cheeks. This made me wide awake all of a sudden and I wrapped her into my arms, placing some careful and tender kisses on her cheeks and neck.

"Hm," I said, "would you…, I mean would you want me to do that for you, too?"

Prim looked up: "You would? Really?" And I could see from the her facial expression that she would not mind getting a back rub at all.

"Come on," I suggested, "lie down at my side."

She did as I told her and I moved my hand below her blouse and stroked her bare back, up and down slowly, until she started to purr; obviously that kind of attention helped her to forget, at least for now. For a while I forgot that I was in my bed, until the door opened and Dad came in:

"Ryan, are you awake now?"

Once he had noticed that Prim was next to me in my bed and we were quite close, he grinned and added: "You'd better not let your brothers see you like this, son. Primrose, is he behaving?"

Prim was not even slightly embarrassed and replied: "Of course he is. I started to scratch his back and now he strokes mine. This is so nice. Mr. Mellark, do you also have somebody giving you a backrub?"

Now my father was unsure on what to say and apparently decided to not comment on that at all. He cleared his throat, turned to leave and just said: "Why don't you two come down for a snack when you are ready."

Stroking and scratching each other's back was something we would not do for the last time. We both agreed that this was very nice and promised us to do that more frequently. In particular, I was happy that I could do something nice for my girlfriend, who was still suffering from her father's recent death.

Over the next weeks and months I had less time available to spend with Prim, as school and homework kept me quite busy, and I also kept working hours for Mayor Undersee and in the bakery. Prim and I kept sharing our lunches, but I rarely got to her house any longer. Prim was not very talkative and did not tell me much on how her sister and mother coped, and I had to admit that I was not really my business. Although, with Prim being my girlfriend, maybe it was my business to also look out for her family? Anyway, Prim was still very pale and somewhat more skinny than usual, but I could imagine that her appetite wasn't what it used to be. I tried to ask her a few times how her sister and mother were doing, but she refused to elaborate on that, which was kind of strange.

In March we could resume our Seam house repair effort. On pleasant days, after school, Marc and I went around and assisted Seam residents to do minor repairs to heir houses and furniture, like patching roofs, fixing shelves, or preparing small gardens. Some of them had permits to have livestock such as goats, hens, or pigs, and the kennels for those needed to be maintained as well. Since we had started this kind of work more than a year ago, most Seam residents had recognized that Marc and I were actually there to help. Most of them still found it odd to see a Seam boy and a Merchant boy working had in hand, but Marc and I had developed almost some kind of friendship by now.

There were some uninhabited houses further down in the Seam, and Mayor Undersee had identified three of them which were too badly damaged to repair, and we could scrounge building material off them. A few supplies of material were also sent with trains occasionally, but not enough by far. Nonetheless, aided by some old books Mayor Undersee managed to get for us, Marc, Gale, and I made progress in learning the trade, and quite a few people started to look forward to seeing us.

On a windy and rainy day in April Dad called me into the living room for a talk, and he started talking about my baking capabilities. I smiled and told him:

"Actually, Peeta is now almost better at baking and specifically with cake decorations than I am."

"Yes, I agree," he nodded, "and I need to talk to you about that. What's your view on the bakery? I mean, as the oldest son, you'd normally be the one to inherit it..."

"Dad," I started, "I think I know what you are talking about. Yes, I can bake and I can decorate to some extent, but it's not my life ambition. As you know, I have been working as an intern for our mayor for some time, and while this is not my dream job, it has a perspective. Mayor Undersee told me that he hopes to get money for a full time administration assistant, though, and he thinks I might be still able to do a little bit of both admin work and outside work when I am done with school. As a matter of fact, the mayor told me recently that he is almost sure that he can start me on a real jobs as soon as school is out, right after this year's Hunger Games. I fully agree that Peeta should get the bakery eventually; he's the best for sure."

My father smiled when hearing this and agreed: "This is good to hear, son, and I am happy about your view on that. If possible at any way, Peeta should indeed inherit the bakery eventually. I am very glad that we agree on that; I did not want to give you the feeling to somehow bypass you. About the internship, I am proud of you, and I also hope as well that this may develop into a full time position when you are done with school."

While we were talking, dusk had settled, and rain had started to fall. I quite liked the sound of raindrops on the roof, and after our talk I kept sitting in the almost dark living room once my father had migrated upstairs. Peeta was still in the bakery and preparing some bread for the next day, and outside everything was very quiet. Although, I may have been mistaken, as I noticed a dark shape crawling around outside, slowly moving in the direction of the garbage bins. Somebody was now actually opening the bins and searching something, which confused me. Suddenly I heard a yelp from the bakery, and soon a part of our yard was bathed in pale light as the backdoor from the bakery opened, and I saw my brother Peeta stepping out, carrying two loafs of bread. He threw the loafs in the direction of the shape and went in again. The shape, which had sought cover under a tree, snatched the loafs and was gone.

I heard movement on the stairs, and when I went to investigate I saw mother going upstairs. Entering the bakery I found Peeta, somewhat blushed and with a big fresh bruise on his forehead. Initially he refused to elaborate, but when I promised him to keep the secret he finally admitted the story:

"You see, I looked outside and saw somebody crawling towards our garbage bins. Somehow I could recognize the person and immediately knew that she was hungry. So I threw two loafs of bread into the fire, which made Mom hit me on the forehead, and she ordered me to throw the two burnt loafs to the pigs as I had planned for. Outside, I gave the two loafs to the girl."

"Peeta, that's not all of it!" I injected. "Who was the girl, and why would you do such a thing? She must have been someone very special!"

My youngest brother tried to circumvent the question, but when I refused to give up, added: "Well, she was Katniss Everdeen. For anybody else I might not have done the same, but for her I simply had to. I have not told anybody about that, I have been in love with her since I was five years old."

Wow – I certainly had not been aware of that, and of course I promised that I would not tell anybody about it; specifically I had to promise to not talk with Prim about that.

A few minutes later Peeta added: "On my first day of school Dad pointed out Katniss and told me that her father could sing in a way to even make the birds be quiet and listen. When our teacher asked for volunteers on that day to sing, Katniss stepped forward and did so. Obviously, she had inherited that talent from her father, and not only the birds, but everybody in the room was quiet. On that day, I fell for her, and I have been in love with her ever since."

"But this is great!" I replied, smiling at my brother. "What does she think about your love?"

My brother looked sad now: "I do not know. I have not dared to mention it to her so far. Every time I am close to her at school I am kind of speechless and fail to say something to her. Even now, when I know exactly I should visit her, I just do not dare."

Thinking about the whole incident, it suddenly hit me that Katniss, Prim's sister, had tried to search our garbage bins, probably for food. I had not realized at all that there was a need for that. Sure, Prim was getting more thin than usual, but that was kind of normal for winter. Katniss usually did not say much anyway, but recalling how she had looked like when I had seen her last I realized that she had been also looking quite thin. When Prim had visited the bakery, like on our regular Wednesday afternoons, she had devoured the pastries I had offered with more appetite than usual, but that again had not alarmed me.

If Katniss and Primrose actually were close to starving, I had been been a bad boyfriend for not realizing that!

Early in the morning on the next day, which happened to be a Saturday, I packed a bag with a few pastries and almost ran to the Everdeen house. I had not been there for quite some time, as Prim and I had met at school and at the bakery for the last few weeks. Prim opened the door and jumped into my arms; I carried her inside, but it took some time after I got her to talk.

"Where is your Mom?"

"She is still in bed. She has not changed much, and only rarely she leaves home, just when somebody needs her urgently for some medical help."

"And Katniss?"

"She sulks and is unsure about what to do. She has already sold some old clothes and she tried her best to get Mom come out from her isolation, but has failed so far. Rye, we do not know what to do! I was not even allowed to ask you for help, as Katniss insisted that we had to survive on our own!"

That explained at least why Prim had refused to talk about her family during the last weeks. I nodded and admitted:

"I am so sorry that I have not realized earlier what kind of problems you have and that you are almost starving!"

Prim replied: "You could not have easily realized that. Katniss ate almost nothing just to make sure that Mom and I got fed. Until recently we lived from the small amount of money we got as compensation for Dad's death in the mines, but that's all gone now. Yesterday Katniss wanted to sell our last remaining baby clothes, and she came home with two loafs of partially burnt bread, but that's all we have right now, as far as I can tell. She is really trying hard!"

"Prim, an 11 year old girl is not supposed to bear the burden to support an entire family!"

"I know, but what can we do? You know that Katniss is unlikely to accept gifts, and she tries so hard!"

"Okay," I said, "that means that you and I need to find a way to help you without making it obvious, I guess. Let us think about it, and while we think, let's eat those pastries."

While Prim was eating and after she had offered some of the food to her mother in the other room, we started to think:

"Can I pretend that you are needed at the bakery as some kind of cake decoration advisor or tasting specialist?"

Prim chuckled a little: "No, that is way too obvious."

"Hm, I could say that I want to learn how to hunt from your sister!"

"Rye", Prim shook her head, "hunting requires stealth. Have you noticed how quietly my sister can walk and run and how noisy you are?"

"You are not making this easy at all, Prim!"

"I know, but I have got another idea. The Hawthornes are in a similar situation, and I think that Gale is hunting, with snares rather than a bow. He and Katniss could work together, and maybe he could encourage Katniss to do something – she would probably listen to him more than to you."

"You may have a point, Prim – would you want to visit the Hawthornes right now?"

"Yes, let's do that!"

Walking over to the Hawthorne home, we found Gale and his brothers and mother inside. Mrs. Hawthorne was clearly pregnant and looked like she was likely to give birth any day now. Prim and I were asked inside, and after exchanging some greetings I started to explain why we had come:

"Mrs. Hawthorne, are you still in contact with Mrs. Everdeen?"

She just nodded.

"Sure you have realized that she is not herself any longer and does not contribute much to support her family?"

"Why do you care?" Gale jumped in, "this is none of your business!"

"It is, Gale," I replied, "because I am worried about my girlfriend's family, and Prim and I are thinking about what we can do to help."

"There is nothing you can do, Mellark" Gale told me. Although we were sometimes working together, the situation had kind of rekindled his old aversion against Merchant citizens.

"You are correct, Gale," I nodded, "but maybe you can help!"

"Explain!" he demanded.

"Well, you still do go outside of the fence for hunting, don't you?"

"None of your business!"

"Has Katniss been hunting since her father died?"

"No, she has not, I believe, but get to the point!"

"Could you encourage her to hunt again? If she feels like you need her, she might do that, and it would give her family some food at least. If I suggested that, she would not listen..."

Gale pondered that for a minute and said: "You may actually be right about that. She is already much better with the bow than I am, and if we went together, she using her bow and I doing my snares..."

"… the Everdeens could eat halfway properly again, I should think, and there might be more food for your family, too." I continued his line of thought. "I can help by making sure that our bakery offers decent rates for trading, at the very least. I don't like to encourage you to continue the hunting, because we both know that it's illegal, but what can you do if you don't want to starve."

Gale was really thinking now: "Mellark, you may actually have a point here. And the situation is really funny – we all know that hunting is illegal, but some of the peacekeepers are my best customers for fresh game. Let me think about it."

Mrs. Hawthorne added: "Ryan, Primrose, thank you for coming. I think that your idea is great, and Katniss might also help Gale to enjoy his hunting trips more – he broods too much when he is going alone."

A week later Prim told me excitedly when I walked her home that Katniss had been hunting with Gale two times already and that they eaten better in the last few days. I was happy to hear that, and my father confirmed that he had seen both Katniss and Gale when they traded in rabbits and squirrels a few days ago. This allowed me to rest a little bit easier, and I was happy for Prim and her family. Of course, the whole situation was quite sad, and I did not like the overall concept which forced young people to do something illegal to prevent their families from starving.

Nevertheless I always made sure to bring plenty of food to school when we had lunch together; that at least was a way to support Prim her sister could not deny me.


	9. Chapter 9 - The 70th Hunger Games

**Chapter 9: The 70th Hunger Games**

_[Spring and summer in the year of the 70__th__ Hunger Games]_

_[Author's Note: Chapter edited for making Annie Cresta the victor of the 70th Games]_

Once again, Prim's birthday was coming up. She was soon going to be eight years old, but due to recent events she was, quite understandably, not looking forward to celebrating at all:

"I do not want to celebrate my birthday without Dad!" she claimed when I asked her about it.

"Dear, I do not think that there is a law which forces you to have a big celebration" I told her, fully understanding her feelings. "Is there anything you would actually like to do on your birthday?"

Prim thought about that for a few minutes and then told me: "Yes, there is something. If the weather is nice, I would want to spend an entire day with you on our meadow. I will want you to hold me tight, and I want to find out if I can rest and sleep for a short time at least without getting bad dreams. My nights in the last few weeks have not been peaceful at all."

"That I can do for you for sure" I replied, feeling happy that Prim did not hesitate to let me know what she needed and wanted. "Does your mother have any plans for your birthday?"

"No, not really," Prim said, looking unhappy, "at least I don't think so. Mom is still not really herself again, and when she is not out helping sick people, she just sits in her room and broods. Katniss is actually the one supporting and feeding us."

"That's too bad; I hope that your mother recovers eventually. But all right, let's plan a nice day out on your birthday. Would you want to invite a few of your friends or just be with me?"

"This year, just with you, please!"

In preparation of my girlfriend's birthday I had walked around the district and looked for the nicest primrose flowers growing wild, and I had picked a variation of them and replanted them in 'our' meadow, in a circle, just a few days prior to her birthday. In addition, I had prepared a number of tiny cookies, and I planned to hide them between the flowers as a small surprise. I so hoped that the weather was going to be nice.

Of course I had asked Mrs. Everdeen before if it was all right to claim her youngest daughter for that day, and although she was not paying full attention, I got her approval, and I told Katniss as well to make sure. Fortunately Prim's big day this year was on a weekend, so that we did not have to go to school and could plan for the entire day.

In the early morning, just when I woke up, there was a light drizzle, but right after breakfast the clouds started to lighten up and the first sun rays broke through. Quickly I added the final parts to my proven picnic basket and walked to the meadow, happily whistling As I had planned, I hid some cookies among the primrose flowers, left the basket there, and went to the Everdeen home to pick up my young girlfriend.

Katniss opened the door for me when I knocked:

"Ryan, you are too early – Prim is still asleep!"

"Would you please allow me to wake her up?"

Katniss looked at me, obviously not sure if this was a good idea, but finally nodded. Thus I went upstairs and looked into Prim's bedroom, and I really found her sleeping. It looked like she was dreaming, as her limbs moved around, and she was uttering some moans and wails; apparently the dream was not a very nice one. Thus I placed a few kisses on her forehead and grabbed her hands, and I called out to her:

"Prim, wake up, I am here!"

It took some time, but she finally opened her eyes and frantically looked around, shouting:

"Where are they? Where did the mutts go?"

Obviously she was still caught in her dream, so that I shook her a little and called out her name again a few times. Eventually she recognized me and calmed down:

"Oh, Rye, I just had a real bad dream, about me being in the arena and some ugly mutts searching for me. I am glad that you woke me up!"

"Have you slept well before the dream at least?" I asked.

"No," Prim responded, "I had bad dreams before, too, and I am tired and exhausted."

"Happy birthday to you, my dear Prim. Are you ready to start your day with me?"

I was really beautiful to see her face lighten up when she recalled that it was indeed her birthday and what our plan was for the day. In no time she was out of bed and about to change into proper outdoor clothes, and I quickly went downstairs to give her privacy. Only minutes later she came down, looking excited now, said a quick goodbye to her mother and sister, and told me that she was ready. I smiled and said:

"All right, Prim, let's go. Good bye Katniss, good bye Mrs. Everdeen – I will bring Prim back at dusk – have a good day!"

This being said, I took Prim's hand and guided her towards the meadow. The light rain had completely stopped and the sun was already warming up the ground when we arrived. Various birds were still singing and chatting, and the freshly planted primrose flowers greeted us with their colors, illuminated by the sun rays shining through the tree leaves.

When Primrose noticed her namesake flowers, her jaw dropped down for a moment, and she was totally in awe. She looked at the flowers, than at me, back at the flowers, and at me again:

"Did you…, I mean, where are those nice flowers from? Did you get them here, Rye?"

I smiled at her and nodded: "Yes, my dear, this is part of my birthday present for you, and I do hope that you like it. You may want to look carefully at the flowers; some of them may be hiding something!"

Prim was now getting curious, and soon she found the first cookie hidden under a yellow primrose, between the small leaves. I guess that I had been lucky that the birds had not found the cookies yet. My little girlfriend smiled at me and said:

"Look what I found! I guess that's good, because I completely forgot to eat breakfast at home."

"Oh, the cookies are not for breakfast, they are for dessert" I was quick to reply and correct her. "Let me get you a real breakfast first!"

With those words I spread out the big blanket on the grass and started to cover it with all kinds of food, like bread and butter, some jam, a jug of milk, a few slices of sausage and cheese, and of course a couple of cheese buns and pastries. While we bakers did not live exactly in luxury, we knew at least how to set up and eat a good breakfast – this was critical to sustain us through hours of hard work with preparing dough and baking. It was fun to watch Prim when I laid out all of the goodies, and when I looked at her, I found her almost drooling when I was done. Thus I did not hesitate to invite her when I was done with my preparations:

"My lady, will you please sit down and honor me by enjoying this breakfast together with me?"

Prim smiled and giggled: "I am not a lady at all, but I will gladly eat with you!"

I was glad to see that my girlfriend has now apparently forgotten about bad dreams and lack of sleep and her mood had visibly improved. For the next ten minutes or so 'my lady' was quiet, as she was busy eating, and I joined her, as I had also skipped breakfast at home, looking forward to spending time with my girlfriend. A few times she was moaning a little, but this time from joy. It looked like I had succeeded in preparing a delicious meal for her, but considering that she lived in poor Seam conditions, it was not really difficult to do better than what she probably ate on a daily basis.

Finally she admitted that her stomach was full and she yawned a few times. As the little girl had already mentioned that she had not had a good sleep, I asked:

"Would you want to try to sleep here for some time?"

She yawned again, but replied: "It is so nice here, and yes, I would. But I also want to enjoy your company!"

"We can do both at the same time, my little lady, if you want" I said and stretched out on the large blanket, my head on a small pillow I had brought. "Just scoot over to my side, make yourself comfortable, and relax."

Happily she did as I suggested and snuggled against me, resting her head on my chest and wrapping one of her arms around me. Carefully I placed another blanket on top of us, and started humming, using the melodies from a few lullabies I knew, and when I saw the crescent moon high in the sky today, I focused on one of my favorite ones:

_The moon has been arising,  
the stars in golden guising  
adorn the heavens bright.  
The woods stand still in shadows,  
and from the meads and meadows  
lift whitish mists into the night._

Only a few minutes later her steady breathing told me that she was asleep.

I was fully content watching her sleep; based on her facial expression, she had nice dreams, and I was happy for her. Lying on the ground with Prim's warm body half on top of me and the sun shining on us on a warm spring day was not a bad way to spend the time at all, and I was quite sure that I enjoyed it as much as my little girlfriend did. I probably dozed off a few times as well, and it was already mid afternoon when she woke up; finding herself in my arms and almost on top of me with her face quite close to mine made her smile and not in the least embarrassed, and she said:

"That was a nice nap, and I feel much better now!"

I laughed and told her: "Well, you could call it a nap, I guess. You slept for more than half of the day!"

She looked around and looked worried now: "Oh no – you sure had other plans for the day – why didn't you wake me up?"

I smiled and replied: "No, I did not have any other plans. You wished to stay with me for the whole day, and here we are. And I really enjoyed watching you sleep."

"You did? Really?"

"Yes, I did, really" I confirmed. "So far, this has been quite a nice day. Are you hungry again?"

Prim patted her stomach and nodded: "Yes, I guess so, a little bit at least."

"Before we eat, though, let's have some fun!" I said. Similar to what we had done a few times last year, I lifted her up into my arms and threw her light body up in the air as high as I could, catching her again when she came down. Prim squealed and shouted "Again!", and we continued doing that until we were both out of breath. She hugged me tightly, thanking me without words.

Following that activity I spread more food on the blanket and invited her to eat again. Later on we talked about her friends at school, how her mother was doing, about the bakery, and various other topics, and she was almost disappointed when dusk was close and I got up. On the way back home Prim told me:

"Rye, thank you so much for spending the day with me – this was absolutely perfect, and I feel much better now!"

During the week, Prim still liked to do some of her homework together with me either in her family's living room or in my room. She said that she could focus better when being next to me, and oddly I noticed the same when I was doing my own homework – I was more efficient and understood better what was written in the books when Prim was next to me. In addition, sometimes she needed me to comfort her when she recalled nice things her father had done with her when he had been alive. Of course I would never be able to replace her father, but at least I could provide some tokens of affection and love, like stroking her back or planting a kiss on her forehead, whenever I got a chance.

Spring turned into summer, and as every year, all students were looking forward to the end of the school year, but at the same time we were afraid of the tribute lottery. The tribute train arrived, and on the next day Effie Trinket met us all on the main square. This year, a young Seam girl from the house next to the Everdeens and a young boy from the Merchant section were reaped. I did not know either of them, but Prim had met the girl frequently, and despite the difference in age, they had sometimes played together, as she was the older sister of her best friend Lizzy Anderson. Naturally, Prim was all in tears at the end of the reaping, and I had to hold her tightly for a long time until she eventually calmed down.

This year's arena was, as we could see a week later when the games were kicked of, built with an abundance of water, and the tributes could either walk away towards dry land, marshes, and mangroves, or get wet if they wanted to get to the Cornucopia to claim some of the goodies there. Naturally this provided an advantage for the tributes from District 4, as they were used to swimming much more than the others. Most people in our district, for instance, could not swim at all – after all, we did not even have a lake, just a few smaller ponds and a creek or two.

Weapons to be found this year included tridents and spears, aligned with the watery scene, and both tributes from District 4 survived the initial bloodbath and managed to get the best supplies, as they reached the Cornucopia first. It appeared that they had refused to form an alliance with the career group, as both of them left the Cornucopia loaded with packs and bags before the career tributes got there; maybe they thought that they had better chances on their own.

Prim was watching together with my family and me in the Mellark living room today; while the bloodbath was slightly less violent than last year, she grabbed my arms tightly and sobbed a little. My father tried to help out by serving a few pastries, and Prim thankfully allowed herself to be distracted by eating.

Later in the evening, when the mandatory viewing time had ended, I brought Prim back home. All of the clouds were gone and the stars shone brightly; looking at the peaceful night sky made it hard to believe that something as cruel as the Hunger Games actually took place. We walked slowly and took our time, and while watching the sky calmed down Prim a little bit at least. However, viewing was going to be tough for at least a week or two.

Next day I was at the Everdeen's again, and at least the morning viewing was not so bad. The two District 4 tributes had found a big lake with fish in it and started to catch some. This looked easy and kind of nice to watch, and the scenery being shown look almost peaceful. The mood changed, though, when the girl was almost caught by some kind of water predator. We had not seen an animal like this before, but it looked like one I had seen in a biology book, which was called a crocodile. The girl was getting injured and barely managed to escape, and the two had to search for a different spot for their fishing and watch out for predators.

Meanwhile, the other tributes had started to hunt each other, and as usual, the career alliance was quite successful in that. Some kills were spectacular and bloody, and similar to last year Prim cried a lot into my shirt. Both of our tributes did not survive the day; they had stayed together and were found by the careers, and as none of them had any combat training, that was that.

After that day, I was asked again to spend the night on the Everdeen armchair with Prim in my arms, and I gladly complied. Before we got to sleep I asked Mrs. Everdeen how her next door neighbors, the Anderson family were doing today, with their oldest daughter being killed today. She just shook her head and told me:

"What do you think? They are all devastated, but at least Lizzy still has a father to comfort her. Thank you for thinking about them, though."

More bloody days followed, and the cameras got all the cruel details with precision. The sponsors loved the aptitude of the two tributes from District 4 and the way they were able to lure many of the others into an ambush, talking advantage of their special skills; they got several sponsor gifts floating down to them. Although, the girl seemed to be better in fishing, and it was mostly the boys killing opponents. At the end, the two District 4 tributes managed to eliminate all of the others except one – one of the careers, and the most nasty one, too. The situations was kind of a stand-off for a day, with the two from District 4 waiting around their lake and the career staking them. Eventually, the career found an opportunity and attacked the male District 4 tribute; the boy fought back, and while both of them got injured, the career boy managed to kill his adversary. The female District 4 tribute, Annie Cresta, came back at this moment, and although she was not a very good fighter, managed to overwhelm the career boy, taking advantage of her enemy's severe injuries. And with that, Annie Creast of District 4 was the victor.

Later on in the victor presentation we learned that Annie had almost gone mad by seeing her tribute partner killed, and she hinted that she had a lover at home. Caesar Flickerman succeeded in getting those details out from the victorious girl, and Annie was almost in tears a few times during the interview.

Fortunately, the long summer holidays were on now, and Prim and I could spend a lot of time together, most of that outside. A few times Mrs. Everdeen joked that it felt like she almost didn't see her daughter for days, as she was with me all of the time. As she spent a lot of time visiting sick and injured people, though, Prim would have been alone at home most of the time, as Katniss was out hunting a lot during the holidays. At one time, when it was particularly hot, I suggested to spend the night on our meadow, and Prim liked the idea. I asked her mother, and she agreed to that proposal. Thus, I prepared the picnic basket and a few blankets, and in late afternoon I picked up Prim and we walked to the meadow. We found our usual spot in the shade of a large tree and settled down, watching flowers and bees and listening to wind and birds. Before dusk we ate our supper of bread, cheese buns and other pastries together with some juice.

Once we had eaten, Prim initiated a conversation: "Rye, I need to ask you something. I know of course that I am way too young for you. Do you feel that you need to have another girlfriend closer to your own age for stuff?"

"My dear Prim," I replied carefully, although I had an idea what she meant, "what kind of stuff are you talking about?"

"I am not blind or stupid", my young girlfriend told me, "and I have noticed that quite a few boys and girls in your age do a lot of kissing and making out and such. I just wanted to let you know that if you want to do this with a girl, you can."

"Oh Prim", I responded, "do you know why a boy might want to kiss a girl and make out with her?"

"Not, not really," Prim had to admit, "this seems to be quite yucky to me."

"Well, some teenagers probably do this just for fun or maybe because they think that they need to in order to be accepted or so" I tried to explain. "For others, like myself, kissing and hugging a girl is not something I would do because I think it's cool, but only as an expression of my love. I have not really felt like that before, but I firmly believe that if a boy and a girl deeply love each other, they both yearn for kissing and making out with each other, and I hope that I can also reach that stage one day."

"So", Prim commented, "you are sure that you do not need to have an older girlfriend in addition to me?"

"Yes, I am sure about that" I confirmed. "I have to admit that I have noticed a few girls getting interested in me, and while I am not really good in reading signs and facial expressions, they may be occasionally flirting with me. Rest assured, though, that you are the only girl I really care for."

After a break I added in a low voice: "And I kind of hope that the two of us might eventually get to the kissing and making out stage, sometime in the future when you are ready for it."

Prim looked up now: "You do? You can imagine the two of us kissing and making out?"

"Yes I can," I replied while smiling, "but only when you are ready for that and do not think of it as 'yucky' – I can and will wait."

When it was getting dark later on, we stretched on the large blanket and got on our backs to watch the stars coming out. The night started without a single cloud, and eventually we could even see the milkyway. With a subdued voice I told Prim:

"We were taught in school that all of those stars in the sky are suns just like our own sun, some of them smaller, and some of them much larger. They are very far away, so that even light takes years to reach us from there, and some of them might even have planets like the Earth we live on, but we do not know."

Pointing out a particularly bright light close to the horizon, not fat from where the sun had gone down, I further explained:

"Look at that bright spot over there. This is, as I have learned, the planet Venus, and it circles the sun just like our Earth does. People call it the evenstar. When it shows, it is usually the brightest spot on the night sky next to the moon."

Prim was silent next to me, and after a break I carried on: "Sometimes I dream that I had a swift vehicle which could take me to other stars and I could see them up close, and I might find other planets with totally alien plants and animals. Or that a vehicle from another planet comes to us and the travelers invite us to visit them, far away from Panem and President Snow and the Hunger Games."

Prim liked this and had her own idea: "One could also imagine that one of those little dots falls down, and when you find it, it takes you up into the sky, or somewhere else."

I looked at her with a smile and nodded: "Yes, this would be nice, if we could do this together. I would not want to leave without you!" - "Same here" my little girlfriend told me.

Later on Primrose and I exchanged some more ideas about dreams related to stars, until she started to yawn. I spread an additional blanket under her to ensure she could rest on something soft and bade her a good night, before I also closed my eyes. I sang another verse of my favorite lullaby to her:

_God, grant us Thy salvation!  
No worldly aspiration,  
no vanity allow!  
Like children simple-hearted,  
and joyful like we started,  
let us become and teach us how!_

Staying 'simple-hearted', like a child, sounded like a good plan. It might be hard to do in a harsh world like the one we lived in, but I decided here and now to try to achieve this goal at least, and I had a feeling that Prim would want that, too. Eventually, we both fell asleep while holding hands.

Early in the next morning my eyes were still closed when I heard a voice, and I soon recognized Katniss' talking. I recalled that she had planned to go hunting early on that day, and she had suggested to take us with her to pick some berries. I was about to get up and greet her, but noticed a weight on my chest. Confused I opened my eyes and found Prim's head and shoulders on my chest; for some reason she must have moved closer during the night and found my chest to be a better pillow than the ground. While I was unsure if I should wake her, her sister touched her gently until she woke up. Prim was not the slightest bit embarrassed to find herself partially on me, greeted her sister, and we were off; we could barely see where we were going in the early twilight. Katniss of course had scowled a little when she saw us almost on top of each other, but she seemed to get used to the idea to see her sister and myself close together. She had a few empty baskets with her, and we slipped through the fence in the usual corner.

Just outside of viewing distance from the fence we found a nice spot with late strawberries and early raspberries, and while Prim and I started picking the berries, Katniss went further out for hunting. A couple of hours later our baskets were almost full, and Katniss also returned. We ate the leftovers from our yesterday's picnic and hurried back to the fence. After carefully looking out for potential peacekeeper patrols and double checking that the electricity was still off, we crawled back inside. I delivered Prim back home, and her sister went to find proper trading partners for the squirrels, rabbits, and turkeys they had shot; Katniss also took a smaller basket with strawberries to deliver to the Undersee family. I took one of the turkeys with me for our family and promised Katniss and Prim to join them in the afternoon, and I would supply some pieces of cakes and pastries in exchange for the turkey.

_[Author's Note: I imagine that the knowledge about exoplanets either got lost completely or at least was not known in the district, so that Rye's knowledge was limited to what I knew when I was at school – there were other suns, but we did not know if they were circled by planets or not. The lullaby "The moon has been arising" is a translation from the German "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" and is also a favorite of mine in real life.]_


	10. Chapter 10 - A cruel school play

**Chapter 10: A cruel school play**

_[Autumn and winter in the year of the 70__th__ Hunger Games]_

_[Author's Note: Chapter edited for making Annie Cresta the victor of the 70th Games]_

Once again a new school year started, and it was going to be my last one. From my point of view that was quite all right, as I was going to have more time to do something useful rather than learning stuff I did not want and need to learn, specifically the boring history lessons and the details about coal mining. Okay, there was not so much coal mining techniques after all in our merchant class; the Seam students had to learn and even practice much more, and they got much less accounting and administration and such instead.

Prim was now in third grade and doing really well, one of the best in class as I heard, and we continued to study together at least once a week, sometimes more frequently. Of course, we did not only study, we also talked a lot, spent time in the bakery, and in our meadow. Except for kissing and making out, we did many things together a 'normal' boyfriend and girlfriend would do, and by now most of the other kids at school had given up on teasing us. They could not understand why I still spent so much time with such a young girl rather than one closer to my age, but they could not fail to notice that we shared a very tight bond. It became normal to ask me how Prim was doing and to ask her what's new about me, and nobody raised an eyebrow any longer when we were seen sharing our lunch, frequently with Prim sitting on my lap, when we were holding hands or when Prim was getting tired and rode piggyback on my back.

Katniss was still very quiet and did not fully accept me. From earlier years she was used to walking Prim home from school, and on the days when I met Prim, she mostly refused to join us. Prim explained:

"Katniss has always been like that, and she is kind of shy with other people. Except for our own family and the Hawthornes, she does not really have friends, and even Gale took years to get close to her. However, Katniss is a very good sister to me. Please do not judge her for her reluctance."

Even more so that in previous years I could not fail to notice that a few girls were looking in my direction more frequently. I was not really used to that kind of attention, but my best friend Tyler was quick to explain that I was considered an attractive male person. Everybody watching wrestling practice could see that I had lots of muscles, I was considered to be polite, I had never been seen at the Slag Heap, and so on, like he informed me. While I did not care about being a center of attention at all, some girls obviously flirted with me, and in particular a pretty and snobbish blonde called Ruby, she was in my class, did so. She tried to catch me a few times at the lockers or pretended to need my help after stumbling or so. I had to admit that she was really attractive, with long and wavy blonde hair and ice blue eyes, but this failed to impress me. Prim made me kind of blind for other girl's features and charm.

Ruby, though, refused to accept that I had a girlfriend and continued to pursue her attempts to get close to me. On one particular day she managed to stumble in my direction, and while pretending to lose control over where her body moved to, she succeeded to kind of run into me. Pretending that she needed to hold on to something she slung her arms around my neck and brought her lips on mine so quickly that I failed to do anything to prevent it. A couple of seconds later, when I recovered from my surprise, I disentangled her hands from my neck, removed my lips from hers and scolded her:

"Ruby, please stop doing that. I do have a girlfriend, and I am not interested in other girls like that!"

"But", Ruby claimed, "she is just eight years old! I can do so much better than she can!"

"No, you cannot" I stated, "please respect my privacy. I would prefer not to hurt you if you try similar stunts again."

Ruby was now getting angry: "We will see how long this young girl wants to stay your girlfriend once she hears about you hugging and kissing me!"

While she was hurriedly leaving, I sighed. Why could those girls not understand that I was not interested in them?

When I met Prim next time, she told me: "I have heard about what happened to you a few days ago, at the lockers. Ruby molested you, right?"

"Yes, kind of" I admitted. "What did you hear?"

"Oh, you know, some girls told me that they saw you kissing and hugging Ruby" Prim said and shrugged. "As you told me that you would not want to do this, it must have been her surprising you, unless you have changed your mind."

"You are entirely correct, my dear Prim." I nodded, "Ruby indeed harassed me by pretending to stumble, and I have not changed my mind at all. I am really glad to have a wonderful and smart girlfriend seeing through such a scheme right away."

And indeed, I was immensely proud of her. Most other girls would probably be jealous first and maybe listen to reason later, but not Prim. She believed in me and was fully convinced of what I had told her, and she would not even consider the chance I might lie to her. Not that I wanted to do that, of course. I was so lucky to have her.

In October I noticed that Prim was bothered with something, and eventually she approached me with a question:

"Rye, you know that we in third grade are supposed to participate in a play at school, right?"

"Yes, I have heard about it. Isn't that always happening for third grade? To be performed just before Christmas?"

"Yes, it is. Do you recall what this play usually is about?"

"Oh yes, I do, as I recall from the time when I was in third grade myself. It is supposed to be a reminder that real life is not like Christmas and to make sure we all know our place."

"Indeed, it is, and my teacher, Mrs. Collins, insists that I play a major part in it. She told me that the kids with best grades are usually selected for the major parts. I am supposed to pretend to poach and go beyond the fence, together with my friend Lizzy; a peacekeeper finds out about it, and we are to be punished by public whipping. Mrs. Collins says that the play is supposed to show that even pretty young girls are not exempt from the law."

"That's too bad! You don't really want to play such a part, I am sure. By I do not know how I might convince your teacher to select somebody else for that role, I am afraid."

"That's not it. They are also looking for an older boy to act as peacekeeper, and I believe you might fit that role. Of course we don't have a single boy in my grade who is big and strong enough to look like a peacekeeper, but you might – you are tall and strong!"

"Why would that be a good idea? I do not think that I'd like to impersonate a peacekeeper, even in a play."

"Yes, I understand, but if you played the peacekeeper catching and whipping me, I would not be afraid that much, because I'd know it's you!"

Now I got her point. I recalled that we also had to play roles for a sketch when I was in third grade and that it was not nice, although my grades had not been good enough to get me directly involved; I could understand her concern. Such a play was mandated by the Capitol to remind all of us who was in charge and who made the rules, and we could not refuse. Thus I told my little girlfriend:

"All right, let me talk to Mrs. Collins. If she thinks that I am suitable for the role, I will consider it."

I got that chance on the next day, and Mrs. Collins agreed that I looked strong and tall enough to play the part; they were looking for a strong boy who could carry two girls under his arms and make it look easy and intimidating. She mentioned that my face did not look threatening enough, but that it would not matter as it would be hidden under a helmet most of the time anyway. I was introduced to what I was supposed to do, and I had to admit that I would have declined if it wasn't for Prim. Two girls were going to pass the fence to collect berries outside, and when they came back, I was going to see and catch them – Prim and her best friend Lizzy. I was going to tie them up, drag them both to the Justice Building and, after quickly conferring with people inside, administer instant punishment by public whipping. While they did not want me to really hurt the girls, it would be embarrassing for them at least, even with everybody knowing that it was a Capitol mandated play only rather than reality.

The entire play was scheduled to be shown in the big school courtyard, with a replica of a small part of the fence, a big cardboard box meant to be the Justice Building, and a pole I could tie the girls to. The real Head Peacekeeper, Cray, the Mayor, and the school's principal would end the play with a few words of warning to everybody. One of the main questions I had for Mrs. Collins was how I could pretend to whip the girls without hurting them. In real whippings, which were fortunately rare, the offenders were usually tied to the post with bare upper body, but they sure would not want to do this with girls? Mrs. Collins confirmed that the girls could stay clothed, but it needed to look real. She suggested that I better think about a way how to make it look that way.

Meanwhile, my 18th birthday in November was approaching, on a Friday. Of course I invited my friends Tyler and Karl, as well as Delly and my brothers. I mentioned the event to Prim, not being sure if she wanted to be with all of us, but she made sure to make me understand that nothing could stop her from coming over on that day:

"Rye, this is going to be your 18th birthday – from that day on you will be officially an adult person. This is a special day, and of course I will be with you for the entire celebration!"

I was not one for big parties, and I also disliked popular games like 'Truth or Dare'; usually, we just sat together and had some cake and pastries, shared stories about the past weeks and months, and fantasized on our future. Sometimes we also did some kind of mini games, running against each other and jumping and stuff.

For this special day, as it I was to become an adult, my Dad had planned a formal dinner with family and close friends of the family. After school I could first hang around with friends and play some games, and in early evening we would meet in our big bakery living room for dinner and talking. Delly's family and the Everdeen family were invited, although my mother almost got a fit when she heard that the Everdeens were going to be here. Out of respect we had also invited Mayor Undersee and his family, but they were not sure if they could make it.

After school, my friends and I walked home with me. Prim, as she had had two hours of lessons less than us, was already there, and she was assisting Peeta in the back room with some cake decorations. Well, assisting might be a big word, but she was handing him tools and ingredients when he needed them, at least, and they had some fun apparently. When Peeta saw me coming in, he grinned and said:

"Hey, big brother, your girlfriend is fun to have around. Let me know when you are done with her and I might consider taking over."

We all knew of course that he was not serious about that, but I said nonetheless:

"Never going to happen, dear brother!"

While Karl and Tyler were used to see Delly around sometimes – after all, she was a remote relative and almost everybody liked her – they were not sure about Prim's presence. Karl finally asked:

"How come that the young Everdeen girl is allowed to be around here that much?"

I replied to that: "Above and beyond her being my girlfriend, my entire family has accepted her and we all like her. She is fun to have around and makes our lives a little happier, just with her presence. My mother is the only one here who still has a big problem with Seam people, but she will have to learn to accept it. Look, Karl, we are all human beings, Seam and Merchant both, and there is not really a good reason to look down at someone just because he or she was not born in the Merchant section of our district."

Karl was not convinced: "You may have a point, but you Mellarks are almost the only Merchant people thinking like that."

"Yes, I know," I responded, "but I hope that we can convince a few others as well."

Later on, dinner with family started quite nicely, and the Mayor had actually managed to show up together with his daughter, Madge. However, after she had had a few drinks my mother started her usual ranting:

"I see Seam sluts around the table again. How often have I told you that Seam are not welcome in our house?"

My father was getting angry. I know that he had talked to my mother before a few times, and only yesterday she had not only been insulting us a lot, but also hit Peeta hard with the rolling pin just because she wrongly believed that he was not working quickly enough. Dad stood up and turned to my mother:

"Larissa, everybody around the table here is an invited guest. This is my house and my bakery, and I have a right to invite people. If you are not happy with my choice, you can leave!"

Mom was not easily stopped: "This is my house, too and I tell you that I do not want Seam buggers in here. This is also Ryan's fault for having a Seam girlfriend. Let me get the rolling pin and show you..."

Fortunately both house and bakery were registered only in Dad's name, as it was traditionally passed on from baker to son; her claims were not valid at all. Dad was obviously having enough of my mother's attitude and rambling now:

"Larissa, get your bag and leave my house, right now! I only want to see you again when you are willing to apologize to all of us for your unacceptable behavior!"

Despite being drunk already, my mother noticed that nobody was willing to side with her, and she left the room. Later on I heard that she actually left, moving to her sister living on the other side of the district. Dad turned around again and faced all of us:

"My apologies to all of you for the disturbance. My wife and I had disagreed on how to respect and treat people for a long time already, but it appears that she is not willing to listen at all. I have been thinking about options, but after all life might be better around here with her gone."

Mayor Undersee commented:

"No reason to apologize, Mellark. This was not your fault, and many of us will be relieved to see your wife gone – no disrespect meant. At least the mood in the bakery will be much improved in future."

Prim had been sitting at my side while all of this happened, and when my mother had started her rambling, I Prim had grabbed my hand and I could feel her trembling. When the mayor had spoken, I pulled her to my lap and wrapped my arms around her, telling that this was not her fault or her problem at all. As she had a few tears on her cheeks, I carefully kissed them away, not caring about being watched by almost everybody in the room.

Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter, who was sitting on Prim's other side, was the first one to comment on our behavior:

"This is so cute! Ryan, I wish that I had a boyfriend treating me like this. When I talk to older boys, almost all of them seem to be interested to drag their girls to the Slag Heap as quickly as possible. Where are the boys of my age being nice like this? Primrose, I tell you, he is a keeper!"

Prim was looking at her and nodded:

"Yes, I know Madge. I do intend to keep him, don't worry. I am going to marry him when I am old enough, you know!"

Madge first laughed and then got serious:

"You really mean that, don't you?"

Prim nodded, and she added: "And now I even have an adult boyfriend! I almost can't believe it! Time for me tor grow up, too, I guess..."

A couple of weeks later the annual victory tour was due again, and as usual we were forced to gather on the big square in front of the Justice Building. The day's weather was quite ugly with some sprinkles, and I was glad that I had dressed warmly. This year I had to stand, but I had a large poncho holding off the rain; my father had been fortunate to get one of those for each member of the family. The Everdeens showed up soon after us, and of course they could not afford ponchos. I waved Prim over to my side, and I was able to fit the slender girl inside the poncho as well, with her standing directly in front of me. As her head barely reached up to my navel, this was not so difficult; I opened a couple of buttons so that she could look out, and I was glad that I could protect her from the rain at least.

On the stage they had erected some kind of large rain protection. For a few seconds I imagined Effie Trinkets hair getting wet and the hair dye running down her clothes, and I chuckled a little. Her introduction speech was similar to last year's, just highlighting District 4 this time. The victor was presented, and Annie Cresta was clearly looking different from other victors before. She was obviously reading from a script, and although she did have her trident with her, she did not look proud about being a victor.

Same as last year, no applause was given, but of course nobody dared to protest either, knowing quite well that the peacekeepers were just looking for an excuse to punish people. Everybody was relieved when the victory train had left again and we were free to go home.

In the following days I conferred with my brothers and my father on how to best make the whipping in the play look real. My father suggested:

"As the girls can stay clothed and the next viewers will be not very close to them, we should be able to create some kind of armor to cover their backs. If you manage to hit them only on the armor, it should not hurt them, and as long as some noise is heard, that should be fine. The girls may need to practice yelling from pain, though."

I looked at him, concerned about the yelling, and he explained further:

"Son, I am not happy about the idea of that play at all. Personally, I think it's real cruel to expose young girls to that. However, if we don't play along, something bad might happen, so we need to pretend to be content with our roles at least."

We were further thinking about what to use as armor, and Dad suggested to use a few pieces of very thick cardboard, wrapped in empty flour sacks. While we were working on that, Prim dragged her friend Lizzy with her into the bakery and asked that we talk about the play. Lizzy was almost as frightened as Prim had been, and only after Prim had introduced me as her boyfriend and told her that I only played the role to make it tolerable for them, she calmed down a little. I mentioned that we were working on some kind of back armor and that they needed to practice yelling from pain to make the scene look real.

After some practicing and perfecting the back armor for the girls, the day of the play had come. I was clothed in full peacekeeper armor, and when I looked in a mirror, I was almost afraid of myself. Rather than a real gun, of course, I had been given a replica.

The play started with Prim and Lizzy talking about collecting berries. First they were both inside the fence, but then Lizzy mentioned that she thought more and sweeter berries could be found outside. Prim warned her that they were not allowed to go past the fence, but Lizzy talked her into doing it anyway, saying:

"Come on, we will be back before anyone sees us!"

This part got me almost embarrassed, because Prim and I had actually been outside of the fence not so long ago, picking berries like the play suggested. I wondered if the peacekeepers knew about that, but I figured that they must know about some poaching activities at least, as Katniss had mentioned a few times that even Head Peacekeeper Cray took a deer or a turkey from her from time to time; to a certain extent, this was apparently unofficially tolerated, but they could not say so.

Getting back to the play, I saw that the two girls now had their baskets full with marbles pretending to be berries, and just when they climbed back inside through a hole in the fence, it was showtime for me and I approached them. The girls, when they noticed me in my peacekeeper uniform, were frozen from shock, and I said with a loud and threatening voice:

"What do we have here – poachers and trespassers. You know that this is illegal, right?"

Prim timidly responded as the script dictated:

"Yes, sir, but the berries outside..."

"No excuses!" I thundered. "I will take you to the Justice Building and your punishment will be administered right away!"

I loosely tied their hands with a rope and took one girl under my left arm, the other one under my right arm, to walk towards the setting representing the Justice Building. While keeping the girls tightly under my arms, I could actually feel them trembling a little; I pretend to confer with my boss inside and then said:

"The verdict is ten lashes of public whipping for each of you for trespassing the first time!"

This being said, I tied the girls to the whipping pole and started to count while I applied the 'lashes'. I had practiced before to make sure that I only hit the invisible armor, and I managed to apply all lashes properly, without hurting the girls, but still with a resounding noise for each lash. Prim and Lizzy did not fail to yell like in pain after each lash, and they were both close to sobbing after I had finished. When I untied them and sent them back to their families, Head Peacekeeper Cray and Mayor Undersee said a few final words of warnings against poaching and trespassing; the principal thanked them for coming, and the play was done.

In the evening I met Lizzy and Prim in the Everdeen home and asked if the girls were all right. They both confirmed that I had not hurt them; they had clearly noticed each lash, but the skin had not been touched. Their final sobbing had not even been pretended, as they both had been totally wrecked at the end of the play, even knowing that it had been me whipping them. Prim assured me:

"Rye, if it had not been you but somebody else, I probably would have almost died from fear, even knowing that this was just a play. Thank you so much for helping us out!"

And Lizzy added: "I am grateful for your help, too, Mr. Mellark. For me, playing something like this is so horrible, since my older sister was reaped and killed in this year's Games."

We spent Christmas quite like last year's holidays, with me staying at home with family on December 24th and 25th. Mother had extended her stay at her sister's, and it looked like Dad was going to file for divorce; this made our Christmas much more comfortable than in the years before.

For boxing day, December 26th, I was again invited to my girlfriend's family. For this year, I had bought gloves and a nice warm woolen cap for Prim, and I had spent additional effort to get small but meaningful presents for her parents and sister.

Katniss had been able to shoot a few rabbits again, and I was looking forward to eating a delicious rabbit stew. As usual, I was supposed to bring desert. Walking through the snow on December 26th was almost beautiful; the snow covered the poor look of the Seam, it dampened noises, and it made some kids come outside to play. Even Seam residents looked almost happy, as they also got a few days off work in the mines.

Even more like last year I felt like being with what I liked to consider my second family. After eating and enjoying desert we exchanged Christmas presents. The Everdeens could not really afford to go shopping for presents, but they had managed to get a beautifully decorated baker's apron for me, in addition, Prim and her mother had prepared a salve against burns, which should be useful when one of us bakers was not careful enough avoiding to touch the over surface. My present for Mrs. Everdeen was a set of cooking gloves, and I got a hunting knife for Katniss. When I finally handed over my presents to Prim, she was excited as last year while unpacking, and her joy when seeing gloves and cap was honest. Similar to last year, she insisted that we get outside so that she could find out how warm her gloves and cap really were, and she was happily dancing and jumping around wearing them.

When I finally went home in the evening, I did so with a warm heart and really happy to know that I had two families I felt comfortable with.

_[Author's Note: I thought that a sketch like that might be in line with President Snow's cruel rules for the districts; please let me know what you think about it and review!]_


	11. Chapter 11 - Getting sick together

**Chapter 11: Getting sick together**

_[Winter in the year of the 70__th__ Hunger Games]_

Since coming home from the holiday celebration at the Everdeens I had felt a little bit off, with my nose forcing me to sneeze and blow it frequently, and my throat itching. Usually I did not easily get sick, but something was clearly happening to my body, and I probably was about to catch a nasty cold. On December 28th I woke up feeling hot, and when Dad looked at me, he said that I was feverish and should better stay in bed. I did not have any appetite and thus ate nothing and drank only very little, and I felt even worse in the afternoon. Eventually Dad decided to get Mrs. Everdeen, and in the evening she came, with Prim tagging along. When she heard that I was sick there was no way my girlfriend was staying at home, she told me decidedly.

Mrs. Everdeen felt my temperature, looked into my mouth and eyes and let me cough a few times, before she spoke her verdict:

"Ryan, you have a severe cold, and we need to make sure that it does not grow into an influenza. You will need to drink a lot, mostly tea and herbal infusions and water, no alcohol, and somebody will have to check on you once an hour or so at least. When the fever gets higher, a cold washcloth on your forehead and calf packings are advised, and you will need to stay in bed for a few days. If all this is done properly, you have a very good chance of recovering nicely."

She turned to my father and continued: "Jacob, I am afraid that the cold virus may be contagious. Whoever tends to Ryan is likely to get infected as well, so that you better have only a single person attending him."

"What exactly will 'attending him' include, Mabel?" my father wanted to know.

"Well, let me blunt" Mrs. Everdeen started to explain. "The person will have to help him drink, apply the washcloth to his forehead and, if needed, calf packings need to be used to lower the body temperature. The designated person needs to be available to talk to him, willing to listen when is quite feverish and speak nonsense and gibberish, and help him to get to the restroom; when he is too weak, a bedpan needs to be used so that he can pee. He is likely to sleep a lot, though, and that's going to be the best for him."

I almost groaned when I heard that. Since I had been little older than a toddler, I had always been able to do my restroom chores on my own, and I really did not look forward to have somebody help me with that, not even my father or one of my brothers. As a matter of fact, when my two brothers, who were listening from the hallway, heard about that, they slowly and quietly disappeared; I could understand that they were unlikely to volunteer for those kind of tasks. My father replied:

"Of course I would do that, but I am needed in the bakery, and I can ill afford to get infected. I guess that I will have to make Wheat care for his brother; I don't see who else is available."

"Has Wheat ever cared for a sick person?" Mrs. Everdeen wanted to learn.

"No, he has not," my father replied, "and I suspect that he may be lacking the required patience for that. But what else can we do?"

Suddenly a high voice pitched in: "I will do it!"

It took me some time to realize that my girlfriend had just volunteered to take care of me while I was sick. Her mother tried to object:

"Primrose, do you realize that you will likely get infected as well? Do you really think that you can take care of all of his needs?"

"Mom," Prim explained, "I have assisted you frequently enough taking care of sick men, including using bedpans and such. It's the least I can do for my boyfriend, and I know perfectly well what's best for him! If I get infected as well, he will take care of me afterwards – won't you, Rye?"

"Of course I will, Prim" I managed to confirm. A few seconds later something clicked in my mind, and I realized: Prim would be using a bedpan on me? Really? How embarrassing was that going to be? I felt too weak to complain, though.

Mrs. Everdeen was not fully convinced yet, but turned to my father: "Jacob, what do you think? I have to admit that my daughter is right, and despite her young age, she should be able to do what is required, specifically as Ryan is going to be her patient. Should we leave Prim in charge of your son? Can you make sure that she is properly fed and will you allow her to stay here in his room for the entire time?"

My father nodded: "Actually, that may be the best solution, Mabel. You can rest assured that we will take care of her like she was my own daughter, and I will make sure that she eats enough and gets everything she needs. Primrose, where will you sleep?"

Prim was quick to respond: "I will share Rye's bed with him, of course. I will need to feel his temperature frequently anyway, and that's the easiest way. Above and beyond that, I always wanted to sleep in his wonderful soft bed, and this is the perfect opportunity!"

Did my girlfriend just say that she was going to share my bed with me? My bed was indeed a good one, but it was only marginally wide enough for two, so we'd be forced to be touching each other a lot. While I liked that outlook, and Prim certainly would not have suggested the idea if she had a problem with that, I was not sure if I shouldn't object just for the sake of modesty rather than go along with it, but when I tried to say something with a weak voice, Prim just said:

"Shush, I am your nurse now, and you will do as I say!"

Nobody else seemed to have any problem with what my girlfriend planned to do, but Prim's mother had one more question:

"Jacob, your wife is not going to come back, or is she? I would not want to expose Primrose to her ire."

My father shook his head: "No, she is not coming back. As a matter of fact, I have filed for a divorce."

Mrs. Everdeen sighed and told my father: "I am so sorry to hear that, Jacob. Okay, it looks like this is decided. In order for you and your younger sons to avoid getting infected as well, I'd suggest that you put everything Primrose may need at the door, and Prim can pick it up from there. She and Ryan should not leave this room until I have allowed it, and I will be here for a checkup once a day. Is this all right for you?"

My father nodded, and soon I was alone with Prim. Before I had a chance to talk to her, I became too tired and fell asleep, and I had quite weird dreams. Sometimes I felt something cold on my forehead and cold, but nice touches on my arm, and a pleasant girl's voice whispering and talking to me, and I fell back asleep again.

When I woke up, daylight was illuminating the room and I felt a small body next to mine and a tiny arm wrapped around my waist. It took me some time to recall the recent events; I felt very weak and barely managed to turn my head and look around, and I noticed Prim next to me, apparently asleep; her face was turned towards me and her body was under the covers. She almost looked like a little angel to me with her blue eyes and her blond hair. While enjoying the view and feeling happy about her being here next to me, I fell asleep again.

Later on, when I woke up again, I felt a little better, and Prim was now awake as well. She was sitting at my desk and eating from a tray in front of her, visibly enjoying her meal. I managed to utter a few words, and when she heard me, she turned around to me and said:

"Rye, you are awake again! That's good, you have slept a lot. Do you need anything? Let me get you something to drink."

She poured something from a pot into a cup and hold it close to my mouth, so that I could easily drink. When I was done, I told her that I need to go to the bathroom. Immediately she went into nurse mode again:

"Can you manage to get there or should we rather use the bedpan?"

I was not sure but told her that I would try. After sitting up slowly, I managed to get to the bathroom, supported by her shoulder, and she helped me to sit down, also helping me to pull down my pants. She refused to leave me alone, and I was strangely embarrassed to pee with her being next to me, but weak as I was, I did not have a choice. Even more, she wiped me, and if I had not been that sick and weak, I might have almost died from embarrassment. As it was, I was just thankful to get my business done and to be able to get back into my warm and soft bed, for everything else I felt too weak and delirious to think about it for more than a few seconds.

The following night I was barely conscious, and while I sensed a presence and touching hands frequently, I was too weak and feverish to care much about it. A few times Prim forced me to drink something, and during the night it felt like she wrapped cold and wet towels around my calves a few times. Also, one of my hands was usually held tightly by hers, which gave me a comfortable feeling; it was like an angel watching over me.

When I woke again, Prim told me that it was around noon and I had been mostly out for more than 12 hours, but I felt much better. I was also surprised that my bladder did not bother me, and Prim admitted that she had made me use the bedpan a couple of times. I was curious about that:

"Prim, I do not even recall asking for relieving my bladder – how did that work out?"

My girlfriend was in full nurse mode and informed me: "There are ways to trigger that, like putting the patient's hand in warm water for a few seconds. Mom had to do this quite a few times when visiting and treating injured coal miners, and it worked for you."

For the rest of the day, as I was really feeling much better, Prim alternated between feeding me, reading a few stories from one of my books, and talking to me. Before I noticed, it was dark again outside, and sleep claimed me again.

On the next morning I felt almost like my old self, just a little bit weak after all of the bed rest. Prim allowed me to got to the bathroom on my own, just told me that I needed to keep the door open. Soon Mrs. Everdeen came to check on me and declared that I was clearly getting better. However, she also checked Prim and was not happy:

"Primrose, I am almost sure that you are now infected as well. Most likely you will start to get feverish tonight, and you will be need to rest for a few days. I am hesitating to ask, but would you want to stay here and have your boyfriend taking care of you? As he is now recovering, he is probably immune against that virus now, so that nobody else would get infected."

When Prim nodded vigorously, her mother turned towards me and asked me: "Ryan, do you think you can handle that? I would prefer if Prim could stay here, as you have your own bathroom and a shower, and this room will need disinfection and cleaning afterwards anyway. If I took Prim home with me, our entire family would likely be infected and sick within a few days."

I confirmed: "Mrs. Everdeen, Prim has taken excellent care of me, and I'd be happy to return the favor, if you will trust me with her."

She nodded and added: "I will talk to your father about that, too. Meanwhile, please spend a little time to learn what you should do, and I will make sure to deliver tea and infusion supplies."

Once she had left, Prim turned towards me and asked:

"Rye, I am curious about something. Last night, when I checked your temperature, you were smiling a lot in your sleep. Do you know why?"

I replied: "I think that I had some dreams about an angel taking care of me and holding my hand, and that made me happy."

Prim was getting all gooey now: "You felt like that about my attending you? Oh, this is so sweet and cute! I did not know that I can make you feel like that!"

Soon she continued to advise me about what I would need to do to take care of her, including the private parts like getting her to the bathroom or using a bedpan on her. Before we were getting down for the night, though, she insisted that we both take a shower to properly clean ourselves. I was not so sure if I would already be able to take a shower and stand for ten minutes or so, but of course Prim had a solution for that:

"I will ask your Dad for a stool or so we can out into your shower stall. If we can get that, you can wash yourself while sitting down – would that work?"

"I guess that it might, yes, good idea."

Dad brought us a metal stool from a store room, and he had cleaned it before bringing it to my room. Using that, I was actually able to clean myself properly for the first time in days, and I felt much better after that. Afterwards Prim also took a long shower, and before we went to sleep, both in my bed, we held hands and talked a little more.

During the night Prim was sometimes getting a little bit uneasy, and I felt her temperature rising. With dawn the next day she was the one needing help, and I enjoyed taking care of her, feeding her the herbal infusion her mother prepared, putting a cold washcloth on her forehead, and holding her hand. A few times she told me that she was getting cold, and I wrapped her in my arms and held her close to me; each time when I was doing that she started to smile and fell asleep again. She was still able to get to the bathroom, so that I did not have to use the bedpan.

When her mother checked on us during the next day, she looked happy, and told me, while Prim was again half asleep: "It looks like the virus does not hit her as hard as it could, and after next night she is likely to recover already. I think that being with you aids her well being and recovery as much as anything else. I really have to admit that you two seem to be made for each other. Thank you, Ryan, for taking such good care of my daughter!"

"Mrs. Everdeen, it is a great pleasure to look after her as much as I can." I replied. "Prim is the sunshine in my life, as you know."

Prim's mother smiled and left again after leaving a few more supplies with us. As she had predicted, the next night was Prim's worst one; she was feverish all of the time, and at one time she mumbled something like "need to go", which I only understood because my head was very close to hers. I realized that she needed to relieve herself, but was clearly too weak to go to the bathroom. Thus I followed the instruction she had given me before and managed to properly hold the bedpan for her, and promptly she fell asleep again after that. I stretched my body alongside hers again, took her hand loosely in mine, and also rested for a few hours. Later on, when she talked gibberish in her sleep and her temperature seemed to be even higher, I applied calf packings to her legs, refreshing them every other hour or so, until daylight was upon us.

Until noon time, when her mother came again, Prim was looking better and her temperature seemed to drop. Mrs. Everdeen was quite happy and confirmed that her daughter was now already recovering. I was supposed to continue feeding her and keeping her warm for a day or two, which she said was important once the fever had gone down. I promised to do this, of course, but I thought I'd better ask for details:

"Mrs. Everdeen, can you please explain how to best keep her warm? Should I cover her under my thick comforter?"

She pondered my question for a few seconds, looked at Prim for a moment, and carefully said:

"To be honest, keeping her tiny body warm is best done by sharing body heat. Normally I would not easily suggest that, but as you are her boyfriend and I knew that she will not mind being touched by you, I'd like you to get in bed alongside with her under the comforter and, for instance, wrap your arms around her from behind. For best sharing of body heat you should not wear many clothes, ideally short pants only."

Now looking at my father as well, she continued:

"Jacob, I know that I should not really say that, but as Prim is only eight years old, this really would be best – I grant your son permission to get in bed with her being topless. Jacob, is that all right with you to have your son stay with her like I suggest?"

My father was a little surprised to hear that, but nodded:

"Yes, Mabel, we will do as you suggest. I know that my son will behave, and we will keep the door to his room open. I will make sure that there is no funny business."

Really? Talking about 'funny business' with an eight year old? I might be totally smitten with my girlfriend, but I certainly wasn't a pervert or a pedophile. Although, I had to admit, my hormones were sometimes playing tricks in my mind, and some of my fantasies were rather 'M' rated, imagining certain things I might want to do with my girlfriend as soon as she was old enough. The fever I had only recently overcome had even fueled some of those dreams. I almost felt guilty about that, but when I mentioned that to Wheat a few days later, he laughed and said that it was perfectly normal for a healthy young man to have erotic dreams from time to time. Still, I decided that I should better not mention those dreams to Prim or her mother.

Mrs. Everdeen did not ask Prim and me if we were all right with her proposal, but I understood that she did not have to – she knew already that this would be perfectly all right for us.

Thus, for the next two days and nights, we spent most of the time in bed and I shared my body heat with her, covering both of us with my thick and warm comforter. Normally I would have been bored to death spending that much time in bed while no longer being sick, but as I knew that my young girlfriend needed me, I did not mind at all. I did ask her if I made her uncomfortable when I wrapped my arms around her from behind, lightly pressing my chest against her back and touching her flat chest with my hands, but she assured me that this was more than all right for her, and for a few times I could hear her purring, almost like a cat. Except for eating and going to the bathroom, we stayed like that for most of the time. I had rarely slept better before, and what I heard and felt from her, the same applied from Prim.

A couple of days later Prim was almost fully recovered and her mother came to get her home. Before Prim left, she pulled me into a tight hug, looked directly in my eyes, and said:

"Rye, thank you so much for taking such good care of me. With you around, I almost don't mind being sick at all!"

I smiled and replied: "Same here, and it was a pleasure to take care of my wonderful girlfriend and nurse!"

A few days later school started again after the winter holidays, and although we had spend almost all of the time in my room being sick, I felt like I had had a great vacation.

A couple of weeks later my brother Wheat and I were chatting about something, and eventually we came to talk about Prim and me.

"You know," he said "the two of you behave like she is your imprint."

"My what?"

"Your imprint. I guess that you cannot know what that is. As you know, I am a big fan of old fiction and fantasy books, and we have a few of those, which survived the big war, in a box. There is a series of four books called 'Twilight', and although the main story is about vampires, there is also a group of werewolves, or more precisely shapeshifters. Those guys have the habit to 'imprint' on girls, like forming a very tight bond. They cannot control when and to whom this happens, but when such a bond is formed, they gain a friendship and partnership for life; almost always this develops into romance and marriage as well as soon as the girl is getting old enough for that."

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"One of those shapeshifters, I think his name is Quil or so, imprints himself on three year old Claire, and it is so funny to read how this young girl and him behave together. He is incredibly patient with her, plays little girl games with her for hours and actually enjoys that; he is like big brother and father in one person, and even much more. As shapeshifters do not age much, he can afford to wait until this young girl has grown up before changing this into an erotic relation, which is supposed to be totally fulfilling for both sides, as they are almost always thinking and feeling along the same lines, like a strong emphatic bond. Looking at Prim and you reminds me so much of that, like you imprinted on her."

I was not sure if I was supposed to take this as a compliment or not, but I decided that maybe I should read those books as well.

_[Author's Notes: I was a little bit uncomfortable having Prim take care of Rye during his illness, with everything that is included. However, when she helps – and later will help – her mother in treating injured people, she probably has to see and do much worse things. The Fandom Wiki states "_Prim was also a good healer at an early age, often helping her mother with patients" _and_ "she never appeared to be fazed by wounds or nudity"_, so this seems to be plausible._

_About the 'imprint': I love Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels, and the way Rye behaves with Prim reminds me somewhat of an imprint, indeed. Special congrats to 'pumpkinking5' who recognized the 'imprint' analogy before I published it.]_


	12. Chapter 12 - A real job at last

**Chapter 12: A real job at last**

_[Spring in the year of the 71__st__ Hunger Games]_

Over the next weeks we heard that a few other children had been infected as well, but not too many of them, and Mrs. Everdeen was relieved when she noticed that. Spring was now coming to town, and most citizens enjoyed the first warm sunbeams, which also helped to alleviate the cold symptoms. Our meadow was still cold and damp, but sometimes Prim and I walked around the district to see if we could find early flowers, such as crocuses and daffodils. It would be really nice to have a garden to display all of those nice flowers, but with a few exceptions, like the Undersees or Mr. Abernathy, none of us could afford time and effort to do this. Gardening, in the places where it happened and where it was permitted, by necessity had to focus on edible plants and herbs.

During one of those walks around Prim saw something moving in the bushes close to the fence, and when we looked closer, this something turned out to be a cat. The cat appeared to have a muddy yellow color, and half of one ear was missing. While I considered this animal to be not appealing at all, to put it mildly, Prim seemed to think different, as she approached it right away. The cat started to hiss, but soon calmed down, and to my surprise it allowed itself to be touched by the young girl. Somehow the two seemed to like each other, as the cat cautiously followed us when we moved on; more precisely, it followed Prim, while keeping a safe distance from me. The ugly cat even dared to follow my girlfriend into their house when I brought Prim home, and when I left, I could hear some arguments from her mother about it being allowed in or not.

When me met again Prim told me proudly that she had named the cat 'Buttercup' and that it was her cat now. While Katniss was not happy about that idea at all, her mother had reluctantly agreed, specifically once the cat had proven to be a good mouser. Prim even admitted that she sometimes allowed the cat to sleep in her bed and that this helped when she had bad dreams. Without being even slightly embarrassed, she told me:

"Having Buttercup with me in bed is nice, but the best sleep I have ever had was when I was in bed with you when we were sick!"

I was not quite sure if this was something I was supposed to be proud of or not, but decided in favor; helping my girlfriend and myself to sleep well was definitely something good and laudable and not something to be ashamed of.

Spring proceeded, and Prim's 9th birthday was coming up. When I asked her if there was something special I could do for her, she replied:

"Yes, maybe there is something. You know that we have a small area behind our house in use as a garden, and I would like to extend it. According to what Katniss tells me we need a permit for that, and we probably cannot afford the fee for it. Katniss would never ask somebody to help us with that, but it would be really good to be able to grow more vegetables and healing plants and herbs. I know that Lizzy, who lives just next door, is willing to help me with tending the plants, too. Do you think that you could assist in getting this permit?"

"Okay," I responded, "let me see what I can do about it. But is there nothing you would want to get for yourself?"

Prim looked up at me with big doe eyes: "The way we spent my birthday last year, just the two of us on the meadow, was very nice. I know that we cannot do this again as this year my birthday is on a school day, but maybe we could do this on the weekend after?"

I smiled and replied formally: "It will be a pleasure and an honor for me to arrange such an event again for my little and pretty young lady!"

Prim giggled and told me: "And it will be very nice for me to attend this event together with my big cuddly bear! And, one more thing: If you can arrange a tiny little birthday cake for me and my guests, you will be forever in my favor!"

On the next day, when I had business in the Justice Building, I asked the clerk handling the permits about the required permission and fee for extending the Everdeen house garden, and I was happy to find out that the fee was quite moderate. They wanted to know why the extension was required, and when I stated that Mrs. Everdeen was a healer and needed to grow healing plants and herbs, this was readily accepted. The clerk took the money from me and told me that I would get the permit within a week. They did not really care that is was me rather than the Everdeens themselves asking for the permit – they only insisted to have everything documented and paid for properly.

A couple of days prior to Prim's birthday I started to work on the cake. While I managed to bake a decent cake, I sucked in decorations, and Peeta was more than willing to help me out when I asked for primrose style decorations on the birthday cake. The cake was a small one, as we could not easily afford to bring a large one as a gift, but even that was more than most people in the Seam would normally get to see and eat. Consequently, when I showed up with the cake on the afternoon of my girlfriend's birthday, everybody was jumping around and admiring the cake. The Everdeen living room was very crowded, with the Hawthornes being here, Lizzy and a few others of Prim's friends, and now me.

When most of the guests had left in the evening, I asked Prim and her family outside:

"Please come outside with me for a moment – there is one more gift for Prim!"

I had managed to put the permit for the garden extension into an envelope, attach it to a stick and put the stick into the ground right where the extension was planned before I had stepped inside. The Everdeens came with me and I directed them towards the stick, which had a few primroses set close to it. Prim was of course curious, took the envelope and opened it. It took her some time to read, but when she had finished, she jumped right into my arms:

"Thank you so much, Rye, this is really great!"

Her mother picked up the envelope and permit from where Prim had dropped it onto the ground, and when she had finished reading as well, she looked at me:

"Who got you that idea, Ryan?"

"Prim did, of course!" I responded. "She wanted to have more garden area mostly for healing plants and herbs. And with the larger garden, now, you may be able to afford at least a few flowers here and there."

"That's typical for her, to think about healing more than about her own needs. What would I do without her?"

"Well, there is something she wants for herself, too. Next weekend, weather permitting, I would like to take her on a date for a full day, with your permission, please. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course it is, Ryan."

We were lucky and the weather was nice next Sunday, so that I could pick up my little girlfriend in the early morning while carrying the traditional picnic basket. Prim was already up and looking out for me, and she was happily jumping up and down when she saw me approaching:

"Rye, you are here – great! Come on, let's go! By Mom, bye Katniss, have a good day! Hope you have some fun without me!"

It was good to see that Mrs. Everdeen was able to smile again like she did now when listening to her daughter's babbling, and soon we were on our way to the meadow. When we got there, I first asked:

"Prim, have you taken the time to eat breakfast?"

"Oops," she replied, "no, I have not; I forgot about that while waiting for you to come."

"So you might be a little bit hungry now, right?" I suggested, and Prim just nodded.

"Breakfast" I stated "is now our first order of business."

I had also skipped breakfast, hoping that I could eat here together with Prim, and ten minutes later we were both happily chewing. After breakfast Prim admitted that she had not slept much in the night before, as she had been so excitedly looking forward to the day, and I offered her a nap next to me. Quickly she was getting into her preferred position at my side, with her head resting on my chest and one of her arms slung around me, and within minutes she dozed off.

For quite some time I was just happily lying on the ground with Prim half on top of me, and I enjoyed the smell which radiated from the flowers around us and from Prim's hair, while dreamily closing my eyes and eventually also falling asleep.

After a few dreams I did not recall I woke up from fingers in my hair, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Prim smiling:

"I was trying to see if your hair is long enough for a braid, but it appears that it is not."

Note to myself: Never let my hair grow long enough for a braid.

In the afternoon we talked about this and that, and I was astonished to find out how much Prim knew about relations in school. She seemed to know mostly who was popular and not so popular in each class and who the really hot boy and girls were. For instance, she told me:

"Since a year or so ago Gale Hawthorne has been considered by most to be the hottest boy in school. He is only 15 years old, but he's kind of handsome by looking dark and threatening, and even lots of older girls swoon over him. Some guys claim that he easily gets girls to go to the Slag Heap with him whenever he wants to. You could potentially compete with him, but everybody knows that we are together."

"So," I teased the blonde girl, "I could only potentially compete with him?"

"Silly," she replied, "that's for the other girls. For me, nobody can compete with you, of course."

"Phew," I pretended to be relieved, "you got me worried for a minute."

Prim laughed and playfully kicked me into my ribs with her tiny fist.

As an afterthought I also asked Prim: "What kind of reputation do my brothers have?"

"Wheat is nice and handsome and known for coarse language, and he is quite popular with the girls" Prim responded. "Rumors have it that he has already dragged a few girls to the Slag Heap."

I nodded: "Yes, I suspect the same. Please don't tell my father about this. I don't think he knows, and if he learns about it, Wheat may get grounded for a year."

"About your other brother," Prim replied, "Peeta is known to be a very gentle and polite boy. I believe that some girls would like to get closer to him, but he acts like he is not interested at all. Of course, at his age, maybe he just does not care yet."

"Yes," I nodded, "the age when a boy does not know if to punch or tease or kiss a girl".

Prim laughed: "Yes, must be something like that. I am glad that you are way beyond that age!"

"I am? Are you sure?"

"At least you don't punch me!"

"That's only because I don't want to have to explain to your mother where you got all of those black and blue marks from."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. However, thinking about that, I could try how pinching works rather than punching."

While saying this, I pulled her closer to me and moved my right hands close to her cheek, trying to look intimidating.

Prim jumped up and squeaked, before she realized that I had just been pretending, and I told her:

"See, I have clearly decided in favor of teasing."

It was really amazing how much fun the two of us could have together. With any other person I would have considered myself to be childish and silly, but with Prim it was wonderful and entertaining. I almost felt like I was her age again, and I immensely enjoyed our little talks and games. With her, I could just be myself; I did not need to be careful about what I was going to say to make sure nobody could misunderstand and potentially be offended, and when I was together with her, I felt at home and at peace.

As an afterthought to our previous conversation I asked Prim:

"Do you know how that works in the other direction? I mean, how do girls feel about boys when they grow up?"

Prim thought about it and replied: "I cannot really say from own experience, since I have never cared for any boy except you. From what I have heard from other girls, boys are first considered just useless and annoying. Later on, when girls find out that a boy may have a crush on them, some of them tend to exploit that. When girls find themselves to have a crush on a boy, they don't know what to do about it and tend to consider it embarrassing, but talk among themselves rather than to the boy. Not sure about all that, but it seems to be somewhat complicated."

"And how do you handle your crush on me?" I asked. "Is that also complicated?"

"I am not having a crush on you, silly," Prim corrected me, "I am in love with you. That is different, but fortunately, with you, not complicated at all."

Well, Prim apparently had a very precise idea of her own feelings and how to categorize them. And indeed, our relationship was not complicated at all. I knew quite well what a blessing this was, when I heard from other couples how easily they sometimes misunderstood each other and how quickly some relations were broken or at least severely impacted just by a few wrong words being said.

Over the next weeks Prim and Lizzy, the girl next door and Prim's best friend, were getting busy on the new Everdeen garden plot, and I helped where I could with some of the heavy duty work. Since Lizzy and I had met during that school play, she had been becoming less shy, and I found her with Prim and in the garden, which was now larger than before, much more frequently. Prim was fully dedicated to the gardening work, and she even cut our time together short for that. Once, when I found her in the garden together with Lizzy, I teased her about that:

"Prim, I am hurt – you prefer to spend time in the garden rather than with me?"

"Silly," she answered, "you are with me right now; why don't you make yourself useful and help me?"

"My dear Prim," I told her, trying to look sincere, "do you think that you can find another nickname for me than 'silly'?"

My young girlfriend started to grin and countered: "Sure, I think that I might be able to come with something. What about … 'Baby Boy'? Or maybe 'Sweet Cakes'? Or 'Pooh Bear'? Hm, maybe 'Cuddle Cakes' or just 'Cupcake'?"

"That's all you can come up with?" I pretended to be upset with her: "I am offended!"

Prim was giggling now while trying hard to focus on her effort with the herb plants she was going to tend to.

"This calls for revenge!" I called out. "I think I can also come up with some fine names for you, such as … 'Featherweight', or 'Shorty', or 'Kissy Poo', or 'Nutty', or maybe 'Twinkie'?"

Prim now gave up on her gardening and started to roll on the ground with laughter, and I also laughed a lot, while Lizzy was just chuckling and giggling. Looking at her, I smirked and added:

"No reason to laugh! We can easily find a nice name for you too, maybe like 'Chica', or 'Kitten', or 'Lubber' - what do you think?"

This was enough to have poor Lily rolling on the ground together with us. Mrs. Everdeen looked out of the window and asked why we were laughing that much, and once she heard about the crazy nicknames, she looked at me:

"Ryan, how old are you, really – eight or nine?"

"Nine, two times that age and two times that bad!"

"Yes, that seems about right."

Once we had managed to calm down, all three of us worked together hand in hand for another hour or two. Prim was eager to get some plants in the ground, hoping that there might be some harvest in autumn, and both Lizzy and I were quite willing to assist.

While the end of the school year and the start of the yearly Hunger Games loomed ahead of us, I still did not have a real job. This did not bother me too much, though, as I could always continue working at the bakery and continue the internship until something was found. A few days before the end of the school year, though, I was called into the mayor's office. As soon as I entered, Mayor Undersee stood up from behind his desk, smiled at me and said:

"Ryan Mellark, thanks to the great work you have done as my intern and the benefit you have been able to provide to Seam homes and families, I was able to demonstrate to Capitol officials that such work is permanently required to keep the coal miners in good health, and they have finally granted me a regular position for that. Not only that, but there's additional money for an assistant. I have decided to offer the primary position to you and the assistant position to Mark Pherson, who has already worked together with you."

"This is great news, sir!" I responded. "Can you please outline in more detail what that job will expect me to do and to what extent it will be different from my internship?"

"Of course" the mayor replied. "You will find all of the details in this contract here, but basically I expect you to spend some time here in the Justice Building, helping me with some planning and administration, and the rest of the time outside, basically doing what you have in the last couple of years, that is repair work and such. I have to admit that the pay is not great, but good enough to live on, even if or when you get married eventually."

"All right, sir, and thank you again" I responded. "Please give me a couple of days to read through the contract, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Oh, by the way, when do I start, and which working hours are planned?"

The mayor had an answer for both questions ready: "I would like you to start right after the games, if you can, let's say one week after the victor has been celebrated and interviewed in the Capitol. Work hours will be around eight hours per day, but there may be less work on some days and more on others. Specifically, there may be more work in summer and less in winter. In general, you will start later than in the bakery, and when you need some time off in between, I will be flexible with that."

With those good news I went home to see my father, and he gladly accepted to check the contract together with me. Looking at the salary mentioned in there, he told me:

"Well, this is not a huge amount, but more than I could have paid you for working here as an assistant at the bakery. For the kind of work your are expected to provide, this looks to be decent pay."

We were not able to dig up a serious issues with the terms stated in the contract, but before I was going to sign and return it, I went over to the Everdeen home. Prim was there, and I outlined what the mayor had told me. As she had been my girlfriend now for some time and we were unofficially engaged, I considered it my duty and my pleasure to ask her for her opinion. She was quick to let me know:

"Oh Rye, I am so glad that you also ask me before signing. Yes, if you feel that you like that kind of work, that's perfect – I will be proud of you for having such a job! Of course I will so miss you at school, but that cannot be helped."

That gave me a thought, and I voiced it: "Right, I am not going to repeat the last term at school just for you. But, I may want to ask the mayor about who takes care of maintenance for the school building. I have recently noticed that some areas in the school seem to be worn down a lot, and I wonder if I could arrange also doing maintenance there, maybe around lunch time..."

Prim got the direction I was thinking and squealed excitedly: "This is a wonderful idea!"

On the next day I returned the signed contract to Mayor Undersee, and he was happy to get my agreement. I recalled my idea from last night and added that question:

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, who takes care of maintenance in the school building? Lately I could not avoid seeing that some areas are pretty much worn, and if nothing is done, some rooms cannot be used any longer in a year or two, I guess."

The mayor sighed and replied: "This is actually a good point. We have a janitor at school, but he is getting a little old, and I do not have a replacement yet. Yes, I may sent you to assist him in some tasks, too."

"May I ask a favor related to that one?" I added.

"What would that be?" the mayor wanted to know.

"Well, maybe it could be arranged that I spent time in the school building typically around noon time." I prompted. "You see, my girlfriend will miss me at school, and if I could share my lunch with her there from time to time, this would be be very much enjoyable for both of us."

Now Mayor Undersee laughed, and when he had calmed down, he asked:

"Is that the pretty little girl who was sitting next to you when I was at your home for your 18th birthday?"

"Yes, sir, it is her."

"Oh, I see. My daughter Madge is very much taken with her, and I have to admit that I am, too. Well, for her sake and for yours, it will be a pleasure to get your schedule arranged in a way so that you can meet your girlfriend at school during lunch break as frequently if possible, even if no work has to be done there, and I will inform the principal that you are entitled to enter school premises any time you want."

"Thank you very much, sir; I will not forget your kindness."

"Nonsense – this is the least I can do for my employees!"

A few weeks later the school year was over, and I had graduated. My grades weren't the very best, but at least clearly above average, and I was happy that I could now stop to learn more about annoying things like coal mining. It was kind of unfortunate that school did not teach some of the really important things, like keeping your own house in good repair, how to mend your clothes, or how to prepare some meal from meager ingredients.

Graduates from the Merchant area were mostly happy about finishing school, as they could now start their apprenticeships at various businesses, but Seam graduates less so, because most of them were not exactly looking forward to working in the mines.

With me now having a full job and Wheat also looking to spend more time on a hobby of his rather than in the bakery, Dad was thinking about getting an apprentice as well, but had not found the right person yet. Well, maybe next year.

_[Author's Note: If somebody comes up with cute nicknames/petnames Rye and Prim might want to use for each other, please let me know!]_


	13. Chapter 13 - The 71st Hunger Games

**Chapter 13: The 71st Hunger Games**

_[Summer in the year of the 71__st__ Hunger Games]_

An excited Effie Trinket welcomed us to the stereotypical 'Big, big day' on reaping day this year. Like in the years before, she wore a very colorful dress and an odd blueish hair color when she stepped out of the Justice Building on to the stage, looking out to us on that pleasant and sunny day. The mayor and her droned on about the usual stuff, and eventually the reaping itself was started. The female tribute for this year from our district was a 17 year old girl from the Seam, a few houses down from the Hawthornes, and a 13 year old merchant boy. I did not know either of them well, but Prim knew the girl, and she was in tears once again when the tribute train had left.

Right after the reaping I slowly went home with a weeping Prim in my arms. Both of my brothers and my father waited for me to arrive at the bakery, and they all gave me a big hug and smiled at me. Dad happily announced:

"Son, you made it – this was the last time you were eligible for reaping, and you are safe from now on. I am really glad for you, and I dearly hope that your two brothers also manage to reach that stage."

"And Prim later on, too" I added, and planted a quick kiss on my girlfriend's forehead.

There was a small celebration cake, and we merrily sat together for some time, talking and eating. The cake also helped my little girlfriend to forget about the horrors of reaping, at least for now. While I was of course happy for myself, I had two younger brothers who were still in, and I had a girlfriend who had not even started yet. Thus my own feelings were somewhat mixed.

Same as for the year before I had a standing invitation to the Everdeen living room for the mandatory viewings, and similar to home, I was hugged by Prim and Mrs. Everdeen for having survived my last reaping day; Katniss just nodded at me – as I knew quite well, she was not a fan of showing affections at all, though some of us wondered if that also applied when she and Gale were out hunting. Quite a few district residents saw Gale as something like her boyfriend, although there were no clear indications for that. Prim used to say:

"No, Gale is more like a cousin or a big brother for her. He may have some ideas to change that at some later time, but I doubt that my sister will."

The first mandatory viewing was a summary of the reapings in all districts. As usual, we saw Careers volunteering in districts 1 and 2, but the real surprise this year was the reaping in district 11 – the female tribute from that district, 16 years old, was quite apparently pregnant. Naturally, we were all quite shocked to see this, and Prim asked:

"How can they allow to have a pregnant girl as a tribute?"

"I really do not want to sound like I support it," I replied, "but how would it look if getting pregnant was an excuse for not being reaped? Certainly President Snow cannot allow this, and the rules do not provide any exceptions."

"But this is cruel!" Prim squealed.

"I am afraid it is," I told her, "but this is the whole idea of the games. Snow always tells us that we need the games to not forget about the war and the rebellion, but I think it's mostly his way of showing and proving that he is the one who is in power and that he can do anything he wants. He probably does not want another rebellion to happen."

Prim was now again hiding her head next to my neck and quietly sobbing into my shirt. She was right, of course – sending a pregnant young woman into the games was cruel, but this was obviously intended to make people know that their life was always controlled by the Capitol. Seeing that same woman during the tribute interviews a week later did not help either. She was looking very sad, and the makeup her prep team had applied could barely hide the tears she must have shed before.

When the games were kicked off a few days later, we saw that the arena had a forest theme this time; the area between the tribute elevators and the Cornucopia was mostly clear, but in almost all directions big trees loomed, some isolated ones to one side, and more dense forest on the others. Being stealthy and knowing to climb was probably an advantage here, which should help the tributes from district 7 and 11. The initial slaughter around the Cornucopia got both of our tributes, who were not fast enough to vanish into the forest. Both of them tried to get a backpack and maybe a weapon, but there were not quick enough, and some of the faster Careers got them quickly and efficiently.

As it turned out, the female tribute from district 7, an older girl named Johanna Mason, managed to stay hidden for quite a long time. During the tribute presentations she had been shown as a weak and timid girl, and we had not understood how she had been able to achieve a training score of 9. However, she was apparently well acquainted with a forest at least. She even managed to hold out until only eight tributes were left and the tribute interviews in the districts started. When the interview with her friends and family was shown, they described her as strong and deadly with an axe. On that day Prim was with us in the bakery, and Wheat commented:

"This is odd. During the interviews she looked like she was afraid and weak, but this is a different impression now."

My father replied: "Wouldn't be the first time that a tribute just pretends to be weak to avoid being targeted by the Careers early on. Maybe this Johanna is good for a surprise."

Same as Johanna, the pregnant girl from district 11 had managed to stay in hiding, and the interview about her revealed a sad love story, one the girl herself had not been wiling to share during her own interview prior to the games. Apparently, she had been falling in love with the boy who had made her pregnant, but for him she was just a means to have fun with, and he did not care much about her future and well being. She had learned that before leaving for the Capitol, and this had totally devastated her. Here in the arena, while she actually did not do much at all, her district partner had managed to keep them safe so far, more due to luck than to skill, though.

"Who is left now?" Wheat asked.

"Well, this Johanna, the two from 11, and I don't know how many Careers, I think" I responded.

When we watched again from the bakery screen, with Prim on my lap as usual, the two district 11 tributes' hideout was found by the Career pack, and a bloodbath started. The boy was killed instantly, and one cruel looking Career tribute from district 2 who was calling himself Brutus obviously decided to have some fun with the girl. In front of the cameras he first ripped her clothes off, then raped her brutally and finally pushed his sword through her pregnant belly. The images shown on the screen were even more horrible than anything we had seen in the years before, and when the whole scene started, Prim had thankfully turned her head towards me and away from the screen and covered her ears. I had my arms tightly wrapped around my scared girlfriend and rocked her gently, releasing her only when the camera moved on towards other tributes. At the end of that scene even my father looked very pale and ran out to the bathroom to vomit. Prim begged me to not explain in detail what had happened there, and I just confirmed that she did indeed not really want to know.

When I guided my girlfriend home later in the evening and we arrived at the Everdeen home, we found Katniss also looking kind of pale, and her mother almost in shock. Katniss was very worried when I came in with Prim, and only once I told her that I had prevented Prim from watching the most cruel scenes, she was somewhat relieved.

The next day's viewing, which I attended at the Everdeen home, seemed to be some kind of 'hide and seek'. No one was attacked, and the 'forest girl from 7', as Johanne was now sometimes called on the screen, stayed in hiding.

One day later, we watched again in the bakery, and the mandatory viewing focused on Johanna Mason, as only herself and a few of the Career tributes were left. One of the Career boys stayed behind the others for some reason, and suddenly an axe was thrown, coming out from the bushes, and hit him in the throat, so that he was dead before he was fully down; he had not been able to utter a single sound. Johanna was shown steeping out from cover and retrieving the axe, and a couple of hours later she repeated the same stunt with a girl. Soon the cameras showed only Johanna and the cruel boy from 2 as the only living tributes being left in the arena. Johanna seemed to know that the gamemakers were likely to do something drastic to flush them out sooner or later, and she was shown heading towards the Cornucopia. Brutus, the big bad boy, was already waiting there with his big sword, but he did not have any long distance weapon, whereas Johanna was shown to have three or four axes with her. Johanna was slowly moving closer while the boy taunted her, calling her a coward and worse. Johanna managed to stay calm, and suddenly she threw an axe. The boy quickly stepped aside, so that the axe missed, and he started to laugh, but a second axe seemingly came from nowhere and hit him right in the chest. Johanna must have thrown the second axe mere seconds after the first one, while the boy was busy watching the first axe and avoiding the hit. Within seconds Johanna was now next to him and finished him, to be declared the victor right after.

We looked at each other and almost could not believe it. Even Prim was impressed:

"Wow, that was cool. She sure knows how to throw an axe, and I am very glad that the cruel boy did not win."

When I brought Prim back home later in the evening, we were actually stopped by Peacekeeper Darius. He was know to be one of the nicer peacekeepers, and usually was not treating us bad. He knew both of us but challenged us anyway:

"I am going to check if you actually watched the viewing today. Register here on my device."

We had to put our fingers on his scanner, and then he started:

"Okay, easy one first – who won the games?"

Prim took this one:

"Johanna Mason, the girl from district 7, with her axes."

"Good one, little girl" Darius commented. "Next one, who was number two?"

Prim started "Brutus" and I added "from district 2."

"Well spoken." Darius said. "Last question: Whom did Brutus kill last, and with what weapon?"

I answered this one again: "He last killed the pregnant girl from district 11 with his long sword."

Darius was happy now, told us that we had passed, and we were free to go.

A week after the games had ended and the victor presentation had been shown, I started my full time job for the mayor. During the first few days I was introduced to the other employees in the Justice Hall and shown some of the paperwork I was expected to do, which included some acounting. Overall, this did not look very complicated, and I was confident that I should be able to do a good job. After all, writing and specifically mathematics had been my favorite lessons at school and I had also liked the accounting basics in the final grades, so I should be fine. Outdoor work was going to be along the lines what I had done before, just on a more regular basis. The mayor wanted me to continue repairing Seam homes, and he was also thinking about getting some street repairs done. Some maintenance in and around the school building was supposed to be initiated together with the school janitor once the new school year had started or maybe a little before.

In my second week on the job, I could leave work early on one day, as there was nothing else to do for the day, and I helped out in the bakery, serving customers. When I was just handing out some pastries to one of our regulars, Prim came running into the bakery. She looked totally upset and in tears, like I had rarely seen her before, except maybe during some of the worst scenes of game viewing, but I had no idea about what might have happened. Once the customer I had been serving had left, I went around the counter, took her in my arms and softly asked:

"Prim, what's wrong, my love?"

While sobbing she told me:

"Rye, they are taking me away from Mom and my family! They say that I may need to go to another district!"

"What? Who is saying that?"

"The peacekeepers!"

"Don't they need to ask your mother?"

"That's the problem – they think that Mom is no longer able to support and raise me!"

It seemed to be difficult to get the full story out of her. I asked Dad if I could take a break and left Prim with him, while I went to the Justice Building. A bored clerk eventually informed me about the situation:

"The Capitol has decided the children have to be raised and supported by parents properly. If parents are found to neglect their duty, their children have to be taken away from them and placed in an orphanage for proper education and support. As District 12 does not have an orphanage, those children will be moved to another district."

"But Primrose Everdeen has a mother," I objected, "and she is taking care of her."

"No she is not." the clerk stated, showing no emotions at all. "We have a number of witness reports that Mrs. Everdeen is neglecting her duty by not feeding her children properly and also failing to support their proper education. While teenage children can be tolerated in those conditions and the older daughter has shown to be self-sustaining, preteen children need to be taken care of according to the law."

I knew that Mrs. Everdeen had overcome her grief about her husband's death partially at least, but it was quite possible that she did not pay much attention to raising her children. In fact, some of Prim's statements and comments suggested that her big sister mostly took care of her rather than her mother. I also wondered which witness reports they might have, but there was a certain chance that peacekeepers had called in some observations. But anyway, to a certain extent the accusations were probably correct, unfortunately.

I was shocked to hear about the potential deportation plans, and tentatively I asked:

"Are there any possible conditions to exempt a child from that rule?"

The clerk looked at me, with a bored expression on his face: "If either the parents can prove until the end of the month that they can support their children properly or the child has a signed marriage contract within the district and the adult marriage partner signs a statement to properly take care of the neglected child, the child can stay. Look, I have other things to do – take this pamphlet and read it if you care."

I was given a few sheets of paper and dismissed. Lost in thoughts I walked back to the bakery, and I found Prim in my father's arms for comfort. I told them about the pamphlet and walked Prim home, where Katniss was already waiting. Katniss looked very grim; I guess that she was worried about losing her sister. I also told her about the information I had received and assured her to study the pamphlet with my father in the evening.

Later in the day, when the bakery was closed, Dad and I sat together in our living room and read the pamphlet twice from beginning to end. When my father looked up, I asked him:

"Dad, don't you agree that this is cruel?"

"Son, you have to get used to the Capitol doing cruel things, like the Games themselves, the play they had to do at school last year, or this rule about deporting kids lacking proper support. We will have to live with that, I am afraid."

A few minutes later my father asked:

"Ryan, I understand that Mabel Everdeen is not even close yet to her former self, and Katniss more or less supports their family, right?"

I nodded: "As far as I know, this is true. Sometimes she goes out for some kind of medical emergency or to meet with Mrs. Hawthorne, but that's about it. Without Katniss' hunting and the tesserae in her name, they'd be starving, as much as it hurts me to say so."

"So there is practically no chance to prove that Mrs. Everdeen has changed until the end of the month" my father continued. "But you have surely noticed the paragraph on the marriage contract. As they say, Katniss can be tolerated to support herself, with herself being a teenager, while Prim is the problem. The two of you are already informally engaged anyway, and a marriage contract would only make that official. I don't really want to tell you what to do, but if you are sure about your feelings, I guess you know what should be done."

District 12 residents sometimes signed marriage contracts for their children long before they were old enough to marry, to strengthen bonds between families or sometimes to erase a debt. However, as much as I felt bonded to Prim already, I agreed to what Mr. Everdeen had told me when Prim had decided to become my girlfriend – it would be nice to give her a choice when she was old enough. However, my father was probably right; this looked like the only option available for us. Thus I replied:

"Yes, Dad, of course I have thought about one. I would very much prefer for Prim to make her own choice without a contract later on, but we may not have another option. I guess that I should walk over to the Everdeens and ask what they think about it."

Dad nodded, and I left. At the Everdeen home, I found Prim still sobbing in her sister's arms, and this time their mother was sitting at the table as well. I did not see a reason not to discuss this with all of them together and thus started to talk about what I had learned today:

"Mrs. Everdeen, Katniss, Prim, after studying the details of the relevant laws and rules and discussing the issue with my father, there seems to be only one option to save Prim from being taken by force, and that is a marriage contract. You all know that Prim and I are kind of engaged already anyway, and if you agree, I am willing to make that official and sign a binding marriage contract with her."

Prim looked up from her place on her sister's lap now: "Really? That will work?"

"Yes," I nodded, "the rules are clear on that – a child with a signed marriage contract in the same district is exempt from the deportation rule if the assigned marriage partner is already an adult. Fortunately I had my 18th birthday last year, so that this is covered. I will have to sign an additional statement taking over some responsibility for Prim's support and education, and I will gladly do that. I will need to prove that I actually can support another person, but as I am now working for Mayor Undersee, this is also a given."

I turned to the girls' mother: "Mrs. Everdeen, will you agree to a formal marriage contract between your daughter Primrose and me and will you sign it at the Justice Building? I know that we not had planned to do this so early, but it appears to be the best option for Primrose."

Mrs. Everdeen shrugged her shoulders: "As long as you think that this is the best for her, yes, I will."

I was happy to see that Mrs. Everdeen was at least able and willing to talk about those issues by now, rather than still hiding in a shell, although I still was not sure if she had really thought about the issue or rather just agreed because it was easier than to think about it. I further addressed Katniss: "Katniss, while I do not need to get your permission, I would like you to tell me that you are also in favor of that approach. I know how close you and Prim are, and I would hate to do such a major step without your approval."

Katniss face moved from a scowl to almost a smile for a few moments and she just nodded, and she even added a few words:

"Thank you for doing this for my sister, Ryan."

There was no need to ask Prim – her look told me quite well what she thought about it.

"All right" I continued. "The document states that we need a couple of witnesses, so that I will also ask Mrs. Hawthorne. If she can find the time, let's meet at the Justice Building tomorrow afternoon."

It turned out that Mrs. Hawthorne was as shocked as I was when she heard about what Prim was threatened with. Her family was in a slightly better situation as she could prove to support her kids properly – she had overcome her husband's death much quicker than her best friend and had kind of drowned her grief in work – and she gladly agreed to meet us for the signing on the next day.

The signing process and formality was simple and quick. They had a long document ready and only had to fill in the names and make sure that enough witnesses were there; Mrs. Hawthorne and my father served that purpose. I needed to sign a few additional documents, and the clerk asked me a few questions to make sure I understood what I signed:

"Mr. Mellark, you understand that with signing this document you take over custody for the girl named Primrose Everdeen together with her mother?"

"Yes I do."

"You also understand that you will be responsible for her support, both feeding her properly and also making sure that her education is pursued according to the law?"

"Yes I do."

"Do you also fully understand that the marriage contract is final and you can only get out of it if all involved parties agree? Do you understand that you will actually have to marry before she is having her 21st birthday?"

"Yes I do."

"All right," the clerk seemed to be happy now, "as you understand the terms, sign here."

As an additional comment I was told:

"Mr. Ryan Mellark, if you feel at any time that her mother is not providing proper support, education, or shelter for your fiancée, you can decide at any time to have her move to your place; this is your choice now."

Prim looked at me with big eyes, and I was quick to assure her that of course she could stay at home.

With the procedure now done, formalities were completed, and the clerk finally confirmed that Prim was safe from being taken away from us.

_[Author's Note: I hope that my description of the cruel scenes in the games is not too strong for a T rating. Overall, I would expect Snow to appreciate such a behavior in the games. Boy, am I glad for not living in Panem._

_I am not sure if the concept of marriage contracts is in line with the Panem background, but it seems to fit. Even in Europe, only a century or two ago, it was not rare to have marriages decided by the parents long before the children were of age.]_


	14. Chapter 14 - The ogling incident

**Chapter 14: The ogling incident**

_[Summer in the year of the 71__st__ Hunger Games]_

After we had successfully dealt with the effort to save Prim from being deported, life slowed down somewhat for the remainder of the summer holidays. For the first time since I had met my little girlfriend, I had to work over the holidays. Fortunately, though, my working hours were not as bad as those of the coal miners, and I had the complete weekends free most of the time. I still lived with my family above the bakery; I did not really see a reason to apply for separate housing, as the living quarters on the first floor were relatively spacious. Also, since my mother had left for good, life at home was nice and comfortable again, and we all shared the household duties like doing the laundry and cooking. We had a full men's household and needed to cope as we could, and this worked surprisingly well.

I made it a habit to walk over to the Everdeen home in the evenings when I got off work, and my little girlfriend was usually eagerly waiting for me. Quite frequently we spent a couple of hours in the meadow to talk and just be together, and once I told her:

"You know, when I come over to your home and pick you up, I feel like getting back to my family after work, and I feel so at home being with you. I feel like shouting out 'Honey, I'm home!' when I have a chance to be with you again – can you understand that? I hope that this does not sound creepy or so."

Prim looked right into my eyes and replied:

"Not, this is not creepy at all. I like it that you feel like this, and it even makes me a little bit proud that you have this feeling specially for me! On each day I am looking forward to the evening and wait for you to come along, and those few hours we can spend together are the best ones."

This being said, she stretched her body on the ground and put down her head in my lap. I knew what she liked, and with one of my hands I took one of hers, and with my other hand I slowly massaged her head. Prim had her eyes closed now, and it did not take long until I could hear her purring.

The day was still very hot, and Prim was wearing only shorts and a tank top. This left the lower part of her chest free, and I could not avoid to see that her ribs were still very clearly visible. Taking one of my hands off her head, I started to gently trace her ribs and said:

"My dear Prim, your meals are still not what they should be, I guess."

The young girl opened her eyes now and whispered:

"Katniss really tries hard, but there isn't always enough, despite the tesserae she signed up for. Besides, food made of tesserae does not really taste well at all."

"Hm," I continued, "I guess that we need to do something about it… let me think..."

I was silent for a few minutes and then talked again:

"I got it. Two times a week, on Tuesday and Friday, I can normally leave work early enough for our dinner at home. We usually have the main meal in late afternoon when we are done with baking for the day. What about I pick you up on those days to have dinner with us on a regular basis?"

"You really mean it? And your father would not mind?"

"Yes, I am serious about that, and no, my father would not mind at all. Don't forget, I signed a sheet of paper saying that I am also responsible for properly supporting and feeding you, and it will my duty, my honor and my pleasure doing that! Above and beyond that, my father has mentioned several times that you are practically family. I would actually want to invite Katniss as well at least once or twice, but knowing her, she will probably decline."

Two days later Friday was there. I had started to work quite early and managed to get home in time for our big baker's dinner, which we usually had between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. Prim had had a long day at school, and I picked her up right from there. Delly walked with us for most of the way, and we enjoyed the warm sunshine and chatted together. Delly Cartwright, the shoemaker's daughter, was a really nice girl; she had been a family friend of the Mellarks since practically forever, and almost everybody in the district liked her. Although she was a few years older than Prim and a Merchant, both girls were kind of friends. Today Delly looked at us and told us:

"You know, Prim, sometimes I am a little envious of you. You have this good looking boyfriend who picks you up from school and who is so totally nice to you..."

Prim giggled: "Yes, I am glad to have him alright. But come on, Delly, everyone likes you; sure you will find a nice boyfriend sooner or later. You are only thirteen years old!"

Delly replied quickly: "Yes, I know, but you have had your boyfriend since you were seven or so. Come on – this is so sweet; nobody else had a boyfriend at that age. Hey, most of the girls my age do not have a boyfriend yet!"

Prim smirked and looked up at me: "I know, and I feel incredibly lucky that I have Rye!"

Kind of proving that she jumped into my arms, right in the middle of the road, and hugged me tightly. Delly smiled, and after a minute or two asked us:

"Just curious about something. You look incredibly comfy with each other, but I have not seen you kissing yet."

Prim was quick to explain: "Oh, I have asked Rye if that was something we should do, and he said that we should only do that if I felt like doing it. Touching lips is something which looks a little yucky to me, but we will be getting there sooner or later, I guess."

Delly smiled again: "You two are really a pair!"

I was feeling a little bit embarrassed to see that our relation was discussed in detail with others. But that was Prim for you. I guess that this was one of the reasons for her mother to trust me with her; she knew exactly that if I was going to do something wrong, a lot of people would learn about that within days. I did not really look forward to hearing people talk like "Ryan touched Prim's boobs yesterday, but she didn't want him to" or something like that. On the other hand, getting to hear "Ryan touched Prim's boobs yesterday, and she enjoyed it" was not really that much better. I mean, being only nine years old Prim was completely flat chested, of course; this was just an example I tried to visualize. Wait, did I actually just visualize Prim with boobs? I needed to get myself distracted urgently!

Fortunately we now arrived at the bakery, and we took our leave from Delly, who was walking further to the shoemaker's shop, which was located just a few houses down the street. My father was waiting at the door and welcomed the 'young lady', as he called Prim again. He told us:

"Come in, dinner is about ready! I hope that you are hungry."

Prim's stomach used the opportunity to growl, and Dad laughed: "I take this as a clear 'Yes'!"

Soon we were sitting around the big table in our living room. Since my mother was long gone, everybody was fully comfortable with having Prim around, and Dad even mentioned with some kind of a smirk:

"Primrose, I am glad that you are here with us today. Having only boys around me makes me miss the female touch at times, and it is really good to have a girl at the table, specifically one who does not mind when my boys talk dirty and are getting too much forward."

"Hey," I objected, "we are not that bad!"

Prim beamed and commented on that: "Well, sometimes you guys are, but that's all right. Mr. Mellark, Rye suggested that I should come every Tuesday and Friday for dinner. Would that be all right with you?"

"Absolutely!" my father smirked, "we will all be looking forward to that! Maybe with having you around, my sons will learn a little better to behave properly. Although, I have to admit, Ryan here has already been properly educated by you."

"Mr. Mellark," Prim said in her best ladylike voice, "I will be happily assisting you in educating your two younger sons as well."

With that she switched over to a voice she probably hoped to be more instructional and turned towards my two brothers:

"Wheat, have you done all of your chores today? Peeta, have you properly washed your hands before sitting down for dinner?"

My two brothers looked at her almost like seeing a ghost, and a few seconds later we all burst out laughing, including Prim herself.

When we had calmed down, my father said: "Primrose, I have said it before and I say it again: I consider you family, specifically as you do have a legal marriage contract with my oldest son. I would be honored to be addressed as 'Jacob' rather than 'Mr. Mellark' by you. If you want to do this at some time in the future, you can also call me 'Dad', but I understand that you might want to keep this moniker for your real father."

Prim beamed again and responded: "Jacob, thank you for offering that, and I have to say that I also feel like being family here. Leave your sons to me, I will deal with them. If they misbehave, I will let you know so that you can decide upon proper consequences."

My young girlfriend had managed to get her statement out while looking completely seriously, and Wheat was getting a little concerned:

"Dad, you are not really going to have Prim check on our behavior, are you?"

"Well, son," my father replied with a smile, "this is for me to know and for you to find out."

We had also decided that Prim would have a sleepover with me on a more or less regular basis on Friday nights. There was no school on Saturdays and I did not have to work, so her staying over after the Friday dinner was a good opportunity. The evening was easily filled with some family games, talking and reading, and I absolutely loved the opportunity to have her with me for the night at least once a week.

This night, when we went to bed, we both chuckled a few times when we recalled that conversation we'd had at dinner; that had really been something to remember.

A few days later, when I went to the Everdeen home to spend a few hours with my girlfriend in the evening, I found here in the garden, tending her plants. She had soiled herself, with dirt all over her clothes and skin, but she was obviously enjoying the gardening. Contrary to some Merchant girls, who always insisted to be properly clothed and being clean, wearing make-up and some of them even cheap jewelry, Prim was having none of that, but even in old shorts and a very worn and dirty tee shirt she looked totally amazing, in my eyes at least.

I helped her for some time, also getting myself dirty, and when the sun started to set and cast the special evening rays directly at Prim, she looked absolutely stunning, and I blurted out:

"Prim, you are the most wonderful and beautiful girl I have ever seen!"

She looked up and raised her eyebrows: "Have you failed to notice that I am dirty and smudged all over and wearing my old gardening clothes?"

"My love", I explained, "that does not change anything. You are beautiful whatever you wear!"

Obviously she liked to hear that, as she dropped the small shovel she had in her hand and jumped into my arms, hiding her face in my neck. After some time she looked up and commented:

"Oh, it looks like I have shared the dirt on my face with your neck now."

"That's all right – there's nothing wrong about getting dirty while doing honest work."

Prim teased: "Hugging is honest work, indeed?"

"Well," I smiled, "the dirt came from honest gardening work, and the hug is an honest reward for honest gardening work, so I guess yes."

"Who am I to argue with you." Prim admitted. "But now we are both totally dirty. Sometimes I really wish we had a shower in our home like you have."

"Yes, I see. Let us ask your mother if it's okay for you to come over and use my shower, all right?"

We did that and Mrs. Everdeen agreed. Prim took a spare set of clothes with her, and we both took a shower in my bathroom, one after another of course. A dirty part of my mind had suggested to share, but I overruled this thought. Later at night, though, I had a dream about being married to an older Prim and having quite some fun in the shower together. I so hoped that we would get a chance to experience that when we got there!

Over the next days and weeks, I started to work with Mr. Webster, the aging school janitor, on doing some urgently needed repairs in and at the district's school building. We still had a few weeks before the start of the new school year, and a few of the classrooms were in a real bad shape, with some walls worn and dirty, the roof leaking badly in a few places, and the outdoors area full of garbage and shrubs. We knew that the Capitol did not care about a nice environment in the districts, but at least Mayor Undersee had made them understand that properly teaching the kids would not work well if they got wet from rain dripping into the classrooms. Recently he had told me:

"Ryan Mellark, I have managed to get a load of roof tiles for the school, together with some large boards and tiles to fix the worst walls. If you can manage, I'd like you to focus on our school from now on until the start of the next school year."

"Yes, sir," I replied, "I will get started tomorrow. No problem."

My assistant Mark helped, and for a few days I also got Gale to assist. The janitor provided tools, and during a few hot days we were busy on the school roof, fixing the worst leaks. Of course none of us were experienced in roofing, but I liked the 'learning by doing' concept; anyway, nobody expected perfection, and if we could fix the bad leaks at least, that would be good enough. Prim helped by bringing snacks from the bakery so that we did not have to interrupt our work for long. On the very hot days we were working without shirts for some time, and Mrs. Everdeen had provided some kind of lotion I could apply to my body to avoid sunburn. Gale and Mark, with their darker skin, did not need that, but my own skin wasn't that dark, and I needed to pay attention. One one of those days Prim stayed around and lingered when she had brought the snacks. Mark, Gale, and myself were back on the roof of a lower building and started to sweat from the heat again, when I noticed Prim staring up right at me for an extended period of time. I was not quite sure at first why she was doing that and shouted down:

"Prim, is everything all right? Can you see something being done wrong from down there?"

"No, everything is just perfectly fine – better than just fine, actually!" she called back without stopping to stare.

I shook my head and continued working, until Gale started to laugh. I asked him:

"What's up, partner? What's so funny?"

"You don't get it, or do you?"

"Get what?"

"Why your girlfriend is staring at you!"

"No, why does she? Can you see what we are doing wrong?"

Gale laughed again, and once he had calmed down he smirked:

"Ryan, are you really that oblivious of the way she looks at you? She is not just staring at you, she is ogling you and your bare chest, and she seems to enjoy it!"

I looked at him, not sure if I had understood him properly: "She is ogling my chest?"

Mark now also cut in: "Man, if I had a girlfriend, she would also be ogling me, seeing me working on the roof and getting a perfect view on all the muscles!"

And Gale added: "Have you failed to noticed the group of girls walking by yesterday and walking very slowly? They were ogling me and my chest!"

"Yes, but..." I was running out of words and rather decided to ask my girlfriend about that, as I was not sure what was actually happening. Thus I shouted down:

"Prim, the guys say that you are ogling me – is that what you are doing?"

"Ogling? Yes, indeed that might be the proper word, silly, now as you mention it!" she called back. "Continue working, I like the view!"

She had called me 'silly' again, and both Mark and Gale were almost falling from the roof from laughing. I guess that I really was kind of oblivious at times, but – Prim ogling me? And of course, most other girls would have vehemently denied that they were ogling their boyfriend, but not Prim.

At the end of the week there was some rain, and this helped us to find a few spots we had missed before; we marked the spots with the intention to work on them next week.

Next Sunday I got to spent with my pretty girlfriend again, and this time we just sat down under some trees close to 'our' meadow, as the temperature was a few degrees lower there. When we had made ourselves comfortable, I decided that I needed to discuss the ogling again, and I asked her:

"Prim, last week when Gale, Mark and I were working on the roof, you admitted that you were ogling me. Why did you do that?"

"You really don't know?" Prim asked back. "This is so sweet – you really do not have a clue about what makes girls swoon over somebody, do you?"

"Honestly, no, I do not" I admitted. "I never had a real girlfriend before you, and I do not like to join in when guys talks about girls. Those talks are frequently disrespectful and make me uncomfortable."

"I am glad that you see it this way, actually" Prim replied. "I have heard from some of my friends how guys talk about them and to them, and that also makes me uncomfortable. I am so glad that you are not like this!"

"Appreciate the sentiment, Prim, but you still have not yet explained why you were ogling me."

"Oh, about that one!" Prim giggled a little now. "I have to admit that I don't know exactly either, but when I looked at you and saw your muscled chest and knew that you are mine, I had an odd and very nice feeling in my stomach, and before I noticed I had been staring at you for much longer than I had intended. Actually, I would like to learn if that happens again – please take your shirt off!"

Well, it was really hot, and I did not mind doing that. I removed my shirt and sat in front of Prim just clothed in shorts. Before long she had that dreamy look in her eyes again and she looked somewhat absentminded. I let his go for maybe ten minutes, and then I asked:

"Okay, what's going on?"

Prim flinched and seemed to wake up form her trance: "What?"

"I asked you what's going on – did you have the same feeling again?"

"Oh yes, I did" my girlfriend smiled. "Quite interesting feeling, actually. Even better seeing your chest from close up."

"Must have been very interesting; you were out of it for at least ten minutes!"

"Really? I have not noticed at all."

"Yes, I kind of noticed that you did not notice anything except my chest."

Prim giggled and told me: "This is totally new to me, but funny and nice. Now I am curious if I can make you ogle me as well?"

Before I even had an idea what she was planning to do she had also removed her shirt and presented her bare chest. My initial reaction was blushing rather than ogling, though. There was not really a reason for that, as Prim was still completely flat chested, but I had been educated by a well meaning father on proper behavior towards girls, and ogling their naked chests, flat or not, was on the list of things not to do.

"Prim!" I squealed. "What is this for?"

"Oh, just trying to find out how you react. Interesting thing, though; rather than ogling my chest, you blush and squeal."

"Prim," I started, stuttering a little, "ogling a girl's chest is not something a gentleman is supposed to do, or so I have been taught at least."

"But this is not fair!" Prim objected. "Why is it cool for a girl to ogle her boyfriend's chest, but not the other way round?"

I was not quite sure if we were really supposed to have that kind of discussion, but tried to explain anyway:

"You see, Prim, when a girl gets older, she starts to develop from a girl into a woman over time. Along with that, a girl's body changes, and her chest forms..."

I hesitated to use that word in front of Prim, not knowing how to properly describe a girl's phase of puberty and which words to use, but she had no such concerns and completed my sentence:

"...boobs, you mean. Yes, of course."

With Prim being a healer's daughter, it was quite possible that she knew more about human bodies and how they developed than I did; I lacked personal experience with girls at least, and Dad had not been very specific when we talked about that years ago. Nonetheless I tried to explain:

"There is a kind of consensus that certain private parts of one's body are not supposed to be shown to others, with few exceptions, like spouses mainly. For women, boobs are included in that."

I had started to sweat, and not only from the heat.

"But you're my boyfriend and designated marriage partner!" Prim insisted. "Why should I want to hide any part of my body from you?"

I need to stop that discussion here and there. Whereas my tempting internal voice kind of told me that I would not mind if she followed up on that, it was pretty obvious to me that her mother needed to talk to her. As Prim was only nine years old, it was quite likely that she had not been introduced to those kind of rules yet, although she had apparently been exposed to some nudity when assisting her mother on treating injured people.

"Prim, this is really something your mother needs to talk to you about!"

"Okay, fine, let's talk to her – come!"

She dragged me towards her home, after she had put her shirt on again, of course, and before I even thought about leaving, she started to talk to her mother:

"Mom, Rye and I were talking about ogling each other's chest and what is right or not right about that."

Mrs. Everdeen started to say something, but did not get a chance to continue her sentence, as her daughter rapidly repeated most of what we had discussed under the trees.

When she had ended, I suggested:

"Mrs. Everdeen, I assume that you might want to have some mother-daughter talk right now, correct?"

She just nodded, and I said a quick good bye to them and left in quite a hurry. On that day I was quite happy when I came home and could relax; those kind of discussions were difficult. Hours later, in the evening, I found myself reviewing the day's events, and in my thoughts and dreams I actually ogled my girlfriend's flat chest at least a little bit. Gosh, I was so smitten with her.

_[Author's Note: The quote 'Honey, I'm home' is from the old movie 'Pleasantville']_


	15. Chapter 15 - Serious relationship talks

**Chapter 15: Serious relationship talks**

_[Autumn in the year of the 71__st__ Hunger Games]_

Over the next days and weeks Prim got many chances to 'ogle' me even more, when I continued working around the school. Over time I got used to that, and I found out that I did not mind her doing that at all; it rather made me feel a little bit proud. During the last week of the summer school holidays more rain came down, and we completed the interior repairs, too, just in time for the start of the school year.

Just a few days prior to school start, I met with Prim again for a late afternoon on 'our' meadow, after the rain had luckily stopped for some time, and I could not resist the temptation to ask her about the talk with her mother:

"Prim, I am a little bit curious about that talk your mother had with you a few weeks ago, when we talked about the staring and ogling. Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

My girlfriend settled down next to me and was silent for a little time, before she replied:

"Well, yes, I guess there is. Mom noticed that I was getting interested in certain things and took the opportunity to talk about how girls are supposed to behave towards boys in general and what a girl should and should not do with her boyfriend in particular. I mean, being a healer's daughter I have seen people nude before when assisting Mom, but I guess that this is different. Why is life so complicated? Why can we not simply do what we want to do? I mean, I love you and you love me, what's wrong with that?"

"So, your mother also talked about not having sex, right?"

"Yes, she did. Rye, I am only nine!"

"Yes, my dear, I know, but you may grow up faster than you think. Prim, this may be hard to imagine right now, but once your body grows further, you may want to get more personal with me..."

"Even more personal?" she smirked and placed herself directly on my lap, facing me, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck, so that her face was very close to mine and I could feel her breath on my skin.

"Yes, and this is a good example. Why are you sitting on me like this?"

"That's easy – because I like to touch you, and the more we touch, the nicer. Is that wrong? Don't you like it?"

I felt a little bit uncomfortable, but I was not sure if her mother had explained things in a way she had fully understood. Thus I continued:

"No, that is not wrong at all, and I enjoy it as well. As a matter of fact, I may enjoy it more than I should."

"Why is that?"

"Have you ever thought why some boys and girls go to the Slag Heap?"

"Yes, Mom has told me that they make out and some have sex."

"Right, that's what I heard as well. Do you also know what can happen when you have sex?"

"Yes, sure, a baby starts to grow in the girl's womb."

"Indeed, not always, but possibly. Have you also considered what may follow if that occurs?"

"Well, the boy and the girl marry, raise the baby, and are a happy family."

"Yes, sometimes, but there are a few caveats. One of them is that a boy not being married to a girl may just declare that he does not care and that the baby is not his problem, and he may dump the girl."

Prim look a little bit scared now: "Really? But this is not fair! Some boys do that?"

I nodded: "Yes, some do, indeed. Don't you recall the interview with the relatives of the pregnant girl in the last games?"

Prim's face lighted up again: "Maybe so, but you would never do that to me!"

I smiled: "No, of course I would not, but I know a few boys who might. I love my brother Wheat dearly, but if he managed to knock up a girl, he might hesitate to go forward with family plans. I mean, Dad would probably make him, but this might result in an unhappy marriage at best. You see, a boy and a girl having sex does not always imply that they are ready and mature enough to start a family."

Prim hugged me and said: "Maybe so, but this does not apply to us at all. Even if I had a baby early on, you would never dump me, and with you I'd be ready to start a family at any time! I mean, I should probably better finish school first, but with you I can take anything!"

I hugged her back and replied: "I am really blessed to you have such a wonderful girlfriend, and of course, I would never dump you. But you realize that this is not valid for all young boys and girls?"

Prim nodded: "Yes, I can see that, but still, what's the problem for us?"

"Well," I continued, "there are two more problems. First one is that if I got you pregnant early on, like at the age of 12 or 13 or so, both your mother and my father would be furious with me, and I'd be grounded for a long time, and rightly so."

"But," Prim objected, "they cannot ground you – you are an adult!"

"Yes, not literally," I explained, "but you are a minor, and your mother could be very very angry with me, and I do not want my future mother-in-law to be angry with me."

My girlfriend was not convinced and responded: "Don't worry, I will just have to explain to her that it was my fault, and all will be fine."

"No, it won't," I further explained, "because there is a very good reason to avoid getting a girl pregnant when she is too young. At the age of 12 or 13 your body may be technically able to conceive and feed a baby, but the pregnancy and specifically the birth will be very difficult. A normal birth may not be possible, and your live would be in grave danger. In addition, there is yet another reason. Do you recall the last games and the pregnant girl in there?"

"Oh," Prim looked concerned now, "yes, I do."

"Just imagine that this happened to you, and you are reaped when you are older and you are with baby. Being reaped is bad enough, but being reaped while being pregnant is even worse, don't you think?"

She nodded and looked very sad and concerned now.

"Just imagine that the pregnant girl in the arena is you, and your mother and I have to watch you being killed in the arena – you don't want that, right?"

I kind of felt bad for forcing those images into her mind, and I really wanted her to understand the potential implications, and thus moved on:

"And even if you already had a baby before and were reaped later on, you'd leave your poor baby behind and the child would have to grow up without a mother!"

She was in tears now: "No, I do not want that to happen! Not at all!"

"See, this is a very important reason to not have sex before you are out of reaping age, wouldn't you agree?"

Prim nodded again, while hiding her face at my neck.

"As much as I love you and know that my body may want different in a few years, I really want to us to not be that intimate with each other before we can get married and after you are out of reaping age; can we agree on that?"

She nodded again and said: "Yes, I understand. Sorry for crying – I was just thinking of a poor baby growing up without her mother."

I hugged and comforted her for some time, and eventually she told me:

"Thank you for explaining this properly. Mom just told me that it was not right, and I'd need to behave when I am old enough and my body might crave more, but she did not really tell me why."

"You are welcome, my dear. Besides, there is something else I'd like to mention. If I get my way, I never want to have sex."

"You don't?" Prim looked up at me, surprise clearly showing on her face.

"No, I don't," I continued, "as I will want to make love rather than having sex. Making love is, in my opinion, the better term for doing certain things together, but not for themselves, but as an expression of love, and that's what I am really looking forward to. With you, eventually, of course."

This statement got me another tight hug, and when Prim looked again, the look in her eyes told me that she completely agreed.

Prim started her fourth year in school now, and she was actually looking forward to it:

"You know, holidays are nice, but I love it to learn new stuff. I just wish we could learn more interesting things, just not so much about coal mining. Look around, there is a whole world around us with plants, animals, nature and all – it would be great to learn much more about it!"

A few weeks later, when he another of our Wednesday meetings in the meadow, just starting in late afternoon when I got off work, she excitedly informed me:

"Can you imagine that my math teacher is now talking about negative numbers? What kind of sense does that make? How can I have less than zero of something?"

I smiled, as I thought about a joke on that topic somebody had told me years ago, and I replied:

"There is a nice example to illustrate negative numbers. Want to hear about it?"

"Sure!" Prim nodded, not suspecting a joke.

"Okay, just imagine that you have a room with three people inside. Once five people leave the room, two have to enter to make the room empty."

Prim looked at me, and I could almost see her brain cells working overtime to follow. However, within mere seconds she scolded me:

"Rye, with three people in the room, there is no way five can go out! What a nonsense!"

"But", I objected, "this is negative numbers for you."

Prim kicked my ribs with her fist, and I was quick to provide a better explanation:

"All right, seriously, let me think of a better example. Imagine you are a merchant and you are out of money. You borrow ten coins from another merchant and spend those coins, so that you have zero coins again; but you still owe ten coins to that other merchant. In numbers, what you have is minus ten coins."

Prim pondered that one and then nodded: "Yes, this makes kind of sense, I guess."

The next weekend promised to be quite warm and sunny again, and I had plans with my girlfriend. I had learned that the Everdeens had an old book which showed a lot of descriptions of plants and flowers, explaining how they looked like and what they could be used for, from a medical point of view. The book was very worn and lacked good illustrations. Earlier I had talked to Peeta about it, and he was more than willing to help. For Christmas I wanted to have a new version of that book, with text mostly copied from the old one, but illustrations done by my talented younger brother; this was going the combined Mellark family present for the entire Everdeen family.

Thus, next Sunday I asked Prim if she was willing to walk round the district and find nice plants and flowers which Peeta could sketch to practice his skills. He had already done some sketches and drawings earlier in the year, but the collection needed to be extended and completed.

Prim loved to walk around with us, and she reveled in finding the nicest specimens for us, almost continuously talking about various features and properties those plants and flowers had. While Peeta did his sketches, I made some notes in a notebook, and Prim beamed when she noticed how much attention I was paying to her talking. Except for a lunch break on the meadow, we spent almost the entire day walking around, sketching, and listening to Prim's talking. At the end of the day she smiled at us:

"It was really nice that the two of you listened to me talking all day long and that you are so interested in what I know. Thank you so much! Rye, you are the best!"

With that I got a big hug from her, and than Prim looked at Peeta:

"Peeta, you are … the second best, I guess!"

And Peeta also got a hug from her.

As I had intended to do, I managed quite frequently to be around school when they had lunch break. Whenever I could, I was there right on time with my lunch box, and like earlier times, we shared our lunches. Sometimes we were sitting on our own, sometimes some friends joined, specifically Delly and Prim's friend Lizzy, who was in her class. Prim's favorite position was still on my lap, and usually my girlfriend and I just piled all we had on a big plate and helped ourselves. I was always fun to see children who had just started school looking over to us and wondering what that young girl was doing on the big boy's lap. Actually, what we were doing was not common at all, and I had learned that most other girls did not like to be seen in such positions in public, and very few of them liked to share plates with their boyfriends, either. Prim of course did not have any inhibitions in that direction, and I dearly loved her for that.

Although almost everybody had accepted us and our relation by now, there was still sometimes a little bit of friendly teasing. Wheat was of course still at school, and he had a new girlfriend who was one class below him. One day Wheat was bringing her to our table for lunch and introduced her:

"Prim, Lizzy, Delly, Rye, this is my girlfriend Anne. Dear Anne, the big guy is my big brother Rye, the girl on his lap is his girlfriend Prim, and the other girls are Lizzy and Delly. If you don't mind, we are sitting with them today."

We started to chat a little, and after some time Anne got encouraged by what Prim was doing and moved herself on Wheat's lap, giggling a little and saying:

"Wheat, can you please do like your brother does with his girlfriend and also feed me?"

True, I was sometimes picking up some food and pushing it right in Prim's mouth, and she did the same with me a few times. Wheat started on that one as well with his girlfriend, and at first this seemed to work. However, Wheat being Wheat, he started to poke his girlfriend in the side right when she was chewing, and a little bit later he had one of his hands very close to her boobs, when he thought nobody was looking. We could see Anne blushing a little, and she was looking at Wheat very sternly:

"Wheat, stop it!"

He behaved for a few minutes, but soon I could see one of his hands moving below the table, and I suspected that he was going to put it on the poor girl's thigh. I tried to warn him with a look of mine, but of course he ignored me. Less than a minute later Anne jumped up from Wheat's lap, turned around, slapped him hard in the face, and left. His only comment was:

"Guess I need to find a more willing girlfriend."

Prim looked at me and I looked at her, and she whispered: "Rye, I am so glad that you are not like him. I mean, he has a lot of charm, but I really prefer the way you behave."

A few days later we were sitting together for lunch again at school, and I had brought some pastries with a vanilla sauce. Eating this nicely was difficult, and I ended up with some sauce on my cheeks and chin. Just when I was about to grab a napkin and clean my face, Prim turned around and kind of ordered:

"No, don't do that. The sauce is too good to be wasted!"

My girlfriend moved her face close to mine and licked my face clean with her lips and tongue, and when done smiled very happily at me:

"This vanilla sauce of yours is a dream!"

Only then we noticed that the others around us looked at us strangely, and Prim asked right away:

"What's up – have we missed something?"

Delly was next to us and told her:

"Oh Prim, what you just did was so sweet – I bet that half of the boys at school just got extremely envious of your boyfriend!"

"Envious?" Prim asked. "But what did I do? This sauce is really good!"

"Prim, do you understand that most girls would not lick their boyfriend's face like this, sauce or no sauce?"

"But why not? What's wrong with that?"

"Prim", I got myself involved now, "what the two of us do together is not typical for everybody. Most boys and girls are more guarded in touching each other, at least when they are in public."

"But what difference does it make when you are in public?"

"Well, for some this is very important. Buy anyway don't worry, you have not done anything wrong at all."

Eventually I had to get back to work and Prim had to go to her next lesson. Thinking about recent events I knew that I ways indeed very lucky to have Prim behave like she did, and herself not being worried at all about sharing affections when we were with others. I knew quite well that most girls were not like that, and the way Prim acted with me warmed my heart and made me feel very special.

I managed to get to school for lunch at least on every other day, and my girlfriend was always happy to see me. Sometime, when she had a free period, she asked me to sit with her somewhere and excitedly told me what she had learned and what her current homework was, and sometimes I explained some details she had not fully understood. Sometimes, when she had to learn and memorize something, she placed herself on my lap, wrapped my arms around her waist, and held her book in front of her while leaning back into my chest. At other times, she asked me to test her on what she had learned, and I had to take her book and make sure that her answers were correct. Once she moaned and complained:

"They want us to learn and memorize what the special conditions were for the Quarter Quells we had in the past. What is that good for, Rye?"

"It is part of our history," I replied, "and we should know about it, even if we don't like it. Hey, you should be glad that you don't have to memorize the name of each individual tribute of all games so far!"

"I am", she sighed.

"Good," I teased her, "but this will be on the agenda next year at school."

"What?" she squeaked. "Are you serious?"

"No, I am not," I laughed, "this was just a joke."

"It's so unfair that you are not ticklish!" Prim pouted. "I would make you regret teasing me like this by tickling you until you scream for mercy!"

"Well, you just will have to find other ways to make me behave, I guess."

"Hm … let me think … if I threatened to not come to the bakery any longer, I'd miss the free cupcakes – not a good idea. But … I got it, when you to school again for lunch, I won't share my lunch with you!"

"Oh no!" I pretended to be scared.

"Oh yes, and I won't sit on your lap any longer!"

"No, please, you cannot do this!" I continued the game.

"And I won't scratch your back any longer!"

"No, no, I will behave, pretty please?" I tried to say in a childlike and begging voice.

At this point we both could not stay serious any more and burst out laughing, and it took several minutes until we were able to talk coherently again.

Winter followed autumn, temperatures dropped, the first snow attempted to hide the prevalent coal dust everywhere, and the time was there for the annual victory tour. For the first time in ages, some of us were at least mildly interested to see the victor, Johanna Mason from District 7, in person. Many of us had been impressed by the way she had won the games, and for a change she was not part of a Career pack from districts 1, 2, or 4. Thus, the crowd gathering on the square on a sunny day was little bit less lethargic then usual, and some people were talking to others rather than just waiting in silence.

The train arrived fully on time, which did not always happen. Peacekeepers formed a cordon so that the victor and her escorts could easily walk towards the stage. Mayor Undersee talked for some time and welcomed her, and Johanna Mason started to speak. Her words were not much different from the typical victor speeches, but she somehow managed to make us believe that she did not really enjoy killing, except the real bad guys. She also mentioned that it was a great honor to win since her district had not had a winner for a very long time. A the end of her speech she looked around for a couple of minutes, and closed with those words:

"You seem to have a lot of forest around in your district. I might like it here – it almost looks like home."

She finally turned around and walked back into the Justice Building, where a party was planned on her behalf. I knew that because a lot of pastries and cakes had been ordered from the bakery.

Later on I the evening I took a walk together with my brother Peeta, close to the copse where the meadow was located. Darkness had already descended, and we enjoyed the cool winter air after the stiff and hot air in the bakery. Not many people walked around in this area at night, but today we encountered a lone hooded figure. Getting closer, the figure turned towards us and we recognized Johanna Mason. She greeted us:

"Nice seeing somebody out here. Who are you?"

"Hello to you, too. We are Rye and Peeta, sons of the baker."

"I just got out here to enjoy fresh forest air, you know. I do not like to be stuck in buildings all of the time."

"Yes, we can see that. No guards or escorts around?"

"Well, I sneaked away, and I probably should get back soon before they miss me."

"How do you feel?"

"Well, kind of odd. You know, I am the first female winner ever for my district, and I wonder that that might imply."

"What do you mean?"

"I have heard rumors about what the Capitol might want to do with some victors, but I should probably not talk about it. Anyway, I'd better get back now; it's been nice talking to you!"

With those words she was gone.

_[Author's Note: I so hope that I succeeded in describing Prim as sweet and innocent and totally trusting Rye, but not deliberately seductive or so. The discussion they're having in the first part of the chapter is close to what I imagine young kids in Panem might get as warning. Of course, for other children it is not the boyfriend, but the parents delivering those talks, I know. Rye's life with Prim getting older is sure going to become more interesting!_

_BTW, I wonder how Mrs. Everdeen treated pregnant women who could not deliver babies the normal way for some reason, for instance if the position was wrong, with the head being up rather than down. Could she do a C-section?_

_As always, I'd really love to get a few more reviews to learn how my readers like the story – thank you!]_


	16. Chapter 16 - Christmas with two families

**Chapter 16: Christmas with two families**

_[Winter after the 71__st__ Hunger Games]_

Right after the victory tour Christmas preparations started in the district. Not official ones, as Christmas was not a big deal for the Capitol, but for us normal citizens it was important, and we were lucky that the Capitol had not dared yet to take those holidays away from us.

Except for the mayor's family and Haymitch and a very few others, none of us were rich, and we usually tried to prepare presents to others using what we had available. For us bakers this was an easy thing. We had that long standing tradition to fill small bags with Christmas cookies, and we used those bags as presents for almost everybody. This year, my brothers and I had started early to prepare the new plant and flower book for the Everdeen family. We had taken the official 'Panem Flora Illustrated' as reference, we had borrowed the old and very worn handwritten book from the Everdeens for a few weeks, and in addition I had found a few old books on plants in the school attic while cleaning up there. Further, we had tried to get more input when we were walking around the district with Prim. I had spent a lot of time carefully writing the text, with some help from Wheat, and Peeta had done all of illustrations in a really artistic way. Dad had supplied the money to get high quality paper and pens for the book.

For this year's holiday season, Dad mentioned that hew was feeling a little lonely just with us boys, and he asked us:

"Boys, don't you think that it would be nice to have some female company around for Christmas? We always start the holidays in the evening of 24th, and this is not going to change, but why don't we invite the three Everdeen ladies for the day after? Would that be all right for you?"

I just smiled, as I knew that Dad would know my answer to that. Wheat nodded, and Peeta blushed just a tiny little bit, but also nodded. Dad beamed and talked on:

"Good, than this is decided. I will walk over to them later on and hand over my personal invitation."

This was just fine to me, and I was truly looking forward to having my lovely girlfriend at our place together with her sister and mother. However, Christmas was still a few days ahead, and the time I did not spend at work I was asked to help in the bakery. It looked like everybody wanted to have some special food for Christmas, and pastries and cakes were part of that, at least for the Townies who could afford it. The butcher next door worked additional shifts as well, as we noticed.

Peeta was of course handling most of the decorations, while Dad and Wheat did most of the baking. I ran the counter when I had some time and helped with filling the cookies into the bags, and each day we were exhausted when we could close the bakery. On one afternoon Prim stopped by after school, and I first saw her pressing her nose against the shop-window. Soon she stepped into the bakery and asked me:

"Rye, what are you doing?"

"Well, as you can see, I am serving customers."

"Good – I am a customer."

"All right – what would the young lady want to purchase?"

"I want to buy a couple of cupcakes, please, but I don't have any money"

"Hm, we usually don't hand over cupcakes for free – we need to find other payment instead. Let me see – you could help cleaning up the basement; I think it is very dirty!"

Prim shuddered.

"Don't like that? No cupcakes then, I guess."

Prim pouted now and looked at me with her big doe eyes while slightly tilting her head; she knew quite well that I could not resist her if she did that. Right away I started to smile and suggested:

"What about you helping me to fill the bags with cookies?"

"Yes!" she beamed now, "I would love to help with that!"

I called Wheat out to take over the counter and moved to the back with Prim. My father smiled at her when he saw her, and we went to the table with the cookies. I lifted up my girlfriend and sat her right on the table, placing a stack of small bags next to her.

"Why don't you hold the bags so that I can easily place cookies inside?"

Prim smiled and held the first bag. Having her holding the bags in front of me made it easier for me to fill them, and we made quick progress. Within half an hour all of the cookies were in bags and the chore was done.

"I think it's time for your payment for helping, don't you think so, Prim?"

She just nodded, and I handed her a plate with two cupcakes and an extra cheese bun. For the next ten minutes the blonde girl was busy eating, while still sitting on the table. When she was done, Dad called over:

"Hey, Prim, I have just finished the batter for another set of cookies. I could need some assistance for preparing the cookies from it – is that something you would like to do?"

"Yes!" she yelled, jumped down from the table, and ran over. For Christmas, we had little metal shapes, formed like a tree, a star, a sheep, and many more, and we used those to cut into the batter so that the cookies took those shapes. Some of the cookies were just finished like this after baking, whereas for others we put a thin layer of jam on top and added another cookie with the same shape on top. Others yet were covered in thin layers of chocolate or vanilla. Naturally, as we were the only bakery in the district, we had to prepare a huge amount of cookies, to cover demand from all citizens – well, Townies mostly – and fortunately the oven was large enough to be loaded with several large trays at once. Prim was up for some challenge, but she got to it and seemed to enjoy helping. It warmed my heart to see how much my girlfriend was accepted around here and to what extent my father considered her family.

Christmas Eve! Yes, it happened every year, but is was always something special for us Mellarks. Mother had not really been part of that tradition and had sometimes refused to celebrate with us, but we Mellark boys reveled in enjoying the afternoon and evening. Once again the four of us sat together, read a couple of chapters in a very thick old book which had somehow survived the war and the times after, had a nice dinner, and picked up our presents from their location under the small tree where we had placed them earlier. This was a time to feel happy and to dream of better times, without a dictator in the Capitol and with everybody being treated equally; well, we could always dream, I guessed.

Naturally, the funniest part of the evening was to unpack presents from Wheat, as he was always playing jokes on us. For Peeta he had somehow managed to get his hands on a small pamphlet with love poems, saying:

"Believe me, this will get you into Katniss' heart!"

By now all of us were aware of Peeta՚s crush on Katniss, but we had promised Peeta to keep it in the family. Wheat knew very well that Peeta would likely not dare to recite a love poem to Katniss, but he enjoyed Peeta՚s face when he realized what he had received. His present for me turned out to be a small packs of condoms, and I blushed a little when I noticed that. Of course he had some comments going along with that:

"You will need those sooner or later, believe me. The way Prim is sometimes glued to you, I am surprised that you have not done it yet. Or have you?"

All three of them started laughing at my expense, and eventually I joined in. Of course my brothers and my father knew exactly that I would not even think about getting that personal with my girlfriend before she was old enough, and I had told them earlier that Prim I had jointly decided to wait with having sex until she was out of reaping age and we were married. Well, to be honest, that was not entirely true, as I sometimes did think about it at least; I was a healthy teenager after all. Dad had told me:

"You know, son, if Wheat had told me something like that, I would not have believed it. From you, I do believe it, and I am proud of you for setting this goal. It is the right thing to do."

A couple of days earlier Katniss had delivered the traditional deer to our home, and in exchange for more bread, had skinned and parted it for us. A large piece of it was had been placed in marinade, which was prepared following an old family recipe, and in the morning of Christmas day, after a quick breakfast, we started the roasting. The bakery was open for a couple of hours only to give people a chance to get fresh bread if they wanted to, we handed over the last bags with cookies, and the feast could begin.

Right after bakery closing time Mrs. Everdeen came over with her two daughters, and of course she first asked if there was anything to help with. My father welcomed them:

"Mabel, I am very happy that you honor us with your presence. Preparing the feast is our task today, so please make yourselves at home here."

Katniss looked a little bit uncomfortable being here, whereas Prim had no such problems and stood close to our Christmas tree, admiring it and the decorations we had added to it. Not for the first time I noticed that Dad was frequently standing very close to Mrs. Everdeen, and the two of them seemed to be a little more than just friendly with each other. They were not touching a lot, but something was there. Could it be that they liked each other?

For the next couple of hours I was busy in the kitchen. I was actually quite decent in cooking and liked to do it at least as much as baking. Whereas Peeta excelled in baking and decorating, his cooking skills lacked; Wheat could cook, but did not normally want to, and Dad was okay with basic dishes, but lost with complicated recipes. Thus, the traditional venison roast had been mostly prepared by me since mother had left.

This year Prim joined me in the kitchen and was curious to find out what I was doing. I patiently explained and got her to help for a few simpler tasks, like forming the dumplings. When she watched me applying the final touches to the venison roast, she was getting curious about something:

"Rye, some girls say that I would need to learn to cook properly in order to be a good wife later on. Is that true?"

"Where does that come from now?" I inquired.

"You know, some girl talk at school."

"All right. No, I do not agree. When a couple gets married, it is certainly helpful that they have certain skills. If none of them can cook properly, they will eat poorly or they will have to find somebody else to cook for them. However, there is no rule saying that it needs to be the wife doing the cooking."

"So, when we get married and I am not good at cooking, this is not a problem?"

"No, it is not. I like cooking, and I probably won't mind doing that once we are married. Maybe you could handle the sewing and some other chores instead? And the gardening of course!"

"Hm, that might work. What other chores?"

"Got to admit that I really don't know. I haven't had my own place, and I am not sure. There is cleaning and washing the dishes and doing laundry, I guess, but probably more. Hey, if you want, why don't we ask your mom and my dad and write a list of chores. Then we can discuss who would focus on which chores and avoid having a fight later on when we are married – what do you think?"

"Yes, I like that!" Prim beamed.

Soon lunch was ready and we all enjoyed a wonderful and peaceful meal together, and it was time for the exchange of presents. Today's highlight clearly was the illustrated book we had prepared for the Everdeen family. All three of them were speechless for a few minutes after they had unpacked it, and even Katniss was quite impressed. The book had a number of empty pages at the back, so that additional content could be added at a later time, too.

In the afternoon, we were sitting together for a long time, exchanging memories and talking about ourselves and the district, and when we separated in the evening, we decided that we might want to celebrate again like this next year.

Some snow came down in the following weeks, but not much, and Katniss could still go hunting. More than once we got rabbits and squirrels from her, each time being shot expertly. Dad pointed out that Katniss obviously managed to hit animals right in the eye most of the time, which was quite some achievement, considering that sometimes the animals were moving.

In late January, snowfall intensified, and playtime was there for the kids. I could not resist the temptation to go over to the Everdeen home on a nice Saturday, with two snowballs hidden behind my back. I found Prim already out, playing with Lizzy, and when she saw me and turned in my direction, I quickly threw the snowballs and hit her with both of them right on the chest. My girlfriend stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to say, before she smirked:

"That's what you want? All right, let's have it!"

Prim turned around to Lizzy and encouraged her:

"Come on, help me against Rye!"

I asked: "Isn't that unfair, two against one?"

Prim put up her face with big doe eyes: "But we are just two little girls against you big bear!"

I laughed and bowed down to prepare my next balls. Prim and Lizzy hid behind the fence and got busy, too. Soon we had a nice fight going on, with snowballs flying in both directions, some of them on target and some others not. It was not easy to hit the girls behind the fence, but I soon figured out that I needed to throw the snowballs high into the air to have them come down right behind the fence.

Katniss looked out of a window and showed some kind of amusement, while Prim took the opportunity to throw some snow in her direction; she managed to hit her sister right in the face, and Katniss' face was gone from the window in an instant. In order to do that, though, Prim had stepped away from her cover, and I used the chance to bombard her, succeeding to get some snow on her neck. She looked at me like I had overstepped some bounds and refreshed her own bombardment in my direction. For some more minutes snowballs flew in both directions once again, and Prim and Lizzy were for some time hidden from sight behind the fence and some rocks. When the amount of snowballs coming in my direction decreased, I knelt down, starting to prepare ammunition in advance for a major attack. Suddenly I felt a weight on my back, and as I was not prepared for that, I landed face down on the snow. My neck was feeling cold, and two small hands were busy shuffling snow under my collar, before I had a chance to react properly.

I pretended to be offended and growled: "Whoever this is - this was the last mistake you will ever make!"

I heard someone giggling and recognized the giggle as Prim՚s; of course, who else could it be. Obviously she had had Lizzy continue to attack and throw snowballs my way, while she had sneaked around to catch me unaware. When I got up again, Prim was already fleeing, and a significant amount of snow in my neck was now melting and running down along my spine. Hm, what would be the best way for revenge? I looked around and noticed a big heap of snow, where the snow which had been shoveled away from the walkway over the last days had been piled on. The heap was easily three meters high and mostly consisted of soft powder snow.

I started to growl again and tried my best to look angry. Prim was back with Lizzy behind the fence and was actually forward enough to stick out her tongue in my direction, mocking me. Slowly I stumped in her direction, forming more snowballs while slowly walking. Lizzy and Prim continued to bombard me, but that could not stop me. When I was close to the fence, they started to be concerned, and I could hear Lizzy asking Prim:

"Prim, what do we do if he does not stop?"

"Hm, I don't know – say 'pretty please', maybe?"

"Very funny; don't you think that we should better run?"

At that time I started to walk around the fence and got closer to them. Prim was now also worried, but claimed unwaveringly:

"I am not afraid – I will bravely defend our position!"

When I was just a couple of meters from them, Lizzy gave up and ran away, squeaking. Prim still formed more snowballs, but when she bowed down to get one, I picked her up around the waist and growled:

"Got you now!"

Now Prim also squeaked, but I was not done with her yet. I swung her around a few times and let her body go at the right time so that she landed head first in the big snow pile I had identified earlier. I had propelled her enough to make her entire head, upper body, and hips disappear inside the pile, whereas her legs were still free to twitch around. Seeing that I could not help myself and started laughing, and Lizzy, who had seen that, also joined in.

Mrs. Everdeen had heard the squeaking and laughing and looked out of her window, and when she saw Prim in the snow pile, she also laughed. Lizzy and I worked together to set Prim free, and after all the fun we were quite exhausted. Actually it turned out that Prim was getting cold; she had been outside playing in the snow long before I had arrived and needed to get warm again. Her mother looked at her and felt her temperature and then addressed me:

"Ryan, our house is not very warm, and we don't have heating in the bedrooms at all. Can you do me a favor and take Prim to your place and keep her warm for a few hours? As a matter of fact, Lizzy is as cold; let me check with her mother if she can go with you, too."

Lizzy's mother came over and checked out her daughter and also asked me to take her. She did not know me well, but knew that I was Prim՚s boyfriend, and she had learned form Mrs. Everdeen that I could be trusted, even though I was a 'Townie'. Thus I promised:

"Mrs. Everdeen, Mrs. Anderson, I will bring the two girls back before bedtime, and I will make sure that they are properly taken care of."

We hurried to the bakery and first we went upstairs. I showed the girls into my bathroom and handed out towels, suggesting that they take a hot shower first. Meanwhile I made sure that the living room was properly heated, which was basically always true as part of one wall was the backside of one of the bakery ovens. I spread additional blankets on the couch and prepared a pot of hot chocolate and a few pastries and cheese buns.

Soon the two girls came down, just clad in the big and fluffy towels, and I placed them on the coach, covering them with the thick blankets. I placed a small table next to them and served the pastries and hot chocolate, which they gladly accepted. Once I had made sure that they were both comfortable and warm I went upstairs to bring the girls' clothes into our drying room, which was also heated by the bakery ovens. When I had done that, I encountered my brother Wheat who had just seen the cuddled girls in our living room, and he smirked:

"What's up, Rye? Is one girl no longer enough for you now? Need a real Seam girl now, too?"

Lizzy looked indeed much more than a Seam girl than Prim did, and she had quite dark skin, grey eyes, and dark hair, just like Katniss. Unlike Prim, though, whose body was more on the skinny side, Lizzy had a more athletic body, and she was also more than half a head taller than Prim. When somebody asked her about that, she used to tell that this was due to her father's genes – Lizzy's father was one of the tallest and strongest coal miners in the district.

Teasing my brother I smirked back and replied: "No, you are right. I am thinking about a nice threesome..."

Wheat was confused for a few seconds, and I added: "… a nice threesome to sit on the couch, drink hot chocolate and east pastries."

My brother admitted: "Rye, you had me there for a moment. Okay, enjoy the girls!"

Back in the living room I asked: "Are you two ladies all right? Are you warm enough?"

Lizzy just smiled happily, and Prim told me: "Quite so, yes, just my feet are still a little cold."

"Oh, that is something we should better take care of!" I replied. Sitting down next to Prim, I started to dig in the blanket until I found her feet, and I pulled them on my lap. Using both of my hands, I initiated some feet rubbing and massaging, until I noticed that they were getting warmer. Lizzy looked over at Prim and told her:

"Prim, I have to admit that I am getting jealous of you for having such a nice boyfriend. I wish somebody took care of me like that!"

"Your father doesn't?" I asked.

"Oh, he does when he has time, but he has to work such long hours in the mines, that he is usually exhausted when he comes home during the week."

I nodded and asked Lilly: "Are your feet also a little cold?"

She nodded shyly, and I changed my position to be centered between the girls now. While moving Prim՚s feet over to my lap again, I encouraged Lizzy to do the same. She hesitated for a few seconds, but finally also stretched out her cold feet, and I did some rubbing on them as well. Prim now moaned happily, and Lizzy apparently enjoyed the attention as well.

Later on in the evening I fetched the clothes from the drying room, sent the girls upstairs to change, and finally brought them back home.

_[Author's Note: My outlining of Christmas cookie preparations is probably not very good. I basically know how this is done, but it is hard to put it in words properly in a foreign language.]_


	17. Chapter 17 - The 72nd Hunger Games

**Chapter 17: The 72nd Hunger Games**

_[Spring and summer in the year of the 72__nd__ Hunger Games]_

Spring was coming! Finally winter gave up, temperatures climbed, and nature prepared for the next season. When I walked around in the district, I specifically enjoyed looking at primrose flowers. Since my girlfriend had been named after them, they had become my favorite flowers, and they were indeed quite beautiful. For the last few years, I had made it a habit to find additional primrose flowers and help Prim to plant them around their house, and this looked quite nice.

In late March Prim and I could spend a few hours on our meadow again, and we sat on a thick blanket enjoying nature around us. Today we had Posy Hawthorne with us. She had been born a few months after Mrs. Hawthorne's husband had died in the mines, and the poor woman was sometimes having a hard time raising her together with her older boys. Prim and I had volunteered to babysit Posy on this nice Sunday, and we had quite some fun doing it.

Posy was almost two years old now and curiously exploring the vicinity. She liked to touch the flowers and the grass, and she squealed when a bumble bee flew around us. Sometimes when Prim and I hugged, she insisted:

"Posy also hug!"

And we quickly included her in our hug. Sometimes Posy was walking away from the meadow, wanting to explore the copse around it, and we had to make sure that she did not get too far away.

Meanwhile I started to throw Prim into the air as I had done several times before in past years, and Posy looked curiously. She could clearly see Prim enjoying that pastime, and soon she begged to join. Thus I also lifted up Posy and threw her up a little bit; as soon as I noticed that she liked it, I threw her higher, and then I alternated between throwing up Prim and Posy.

Eventually, though, Posy got hungry:

"Posy want eat!"

Of course we were prepared for that, and Mrs. Hawthorne had educated us on what we were supposed to give her for eating and drinking. In the afternoon Posy found out that Prim was ticklish, and the two girls had quite some fun with that, because Posy was ticklish as well. I had not been taking advantage much of Prim՚s weakness since I had known her; as I was so much taller and stronger than my girlfriend, it seemed wrong to me to 'abuse' her like that. Posy did not have any issues like that, of course, and she tried to find Prim՚s most ticklish body parts whenever she could, until Prim returned the favor. I enjoyed seeing the two girls being so happy and listening to their squeals.

Later on Posy needed a nap, and we just stretched out on the blanket, with Prim next to me and Posy across our two bodies, with her head and shoulders on my chest and her legs on Prim՚s. Prim and I both had one arm on top of Posy and our fingers intertwined, and we enjoyed the warm sunshine and the entertainment provided by singing birds until Posy had rested enough.

Posy had developed a distinct smell by now and needed to have her diapers changed. Prim had been instructed by Mrs. Hawthorne on how to do this properly long ago and had done it before multiple times, so she took over that chore and handled it quite well, as much as I could judge that.

"I guess," I commented, "that this is going to be one of the chores I will be happily leave to you later on."

Prim looked at me: "So you are already thinking about having a baby together with me?"

I blushed a little and nodded.

"This is so sweet!" my girlfriend squealed."I can't wait to tell my friends about that!"

"Oh, about that one, Prim," I objected, "you may want to think about it. If you run around and tell people that you are making specific plans on having a baby with me, this might come over in a way which is not intended."

"Why is that?" she asked.

"Well, lots of people tend to read between the lines." I tried to explain. "When you say that, some might assume that you are having specific plans on the process to make a baby, right now in the near future rather than much later."

"Really? But I am barely ten years old..."

"What about that – when you are home tonight, why don't you ask your mother what she thinks if you tell the story like you want to first."

"Okay."

Well, once we had delivered Posy back home and had told her mother that we had had quite some fun with here, Prim did not allow me to leave, but insisted that I see how innocent her statement would be. Right away she approached her mother:

"Mom, can you imagine, when we spent time with Posy, we talked about babies, and Rye said he would not mind to have a baby with me, and we even started specific plans..."

"Hold on, Prim," Mrs. Everdeen stopped her, looking quite concerned, "which specific plans are you talking about?"

I decided to explain: "I told Prim that people might misinterpret the statement the way she phrases it. When we spent time with Posy today and your daughter professionally changed her diaper, I mentioned that I'd gladly leave that to her once we're married and have a bay together. Prim was apparently excited about me thinking to have a baby with her eventually, and I tried to explain that her way of putting it might be misunderstood."

"Oh, I see" Mrs. Everdeen smiled now. "Yes, leave that to me; I will try to explain further."

A couple of weeks later, when we were in my room together while looking into some of Prim՚s homework, I asked my girlfriend what she wanted for her birthday. She did not have to think long about it and blurted out:

"Can we have a sleepover?"

"What kind of sleepover do you have in mind?"

"You and me together in your bed, like we did when we were sick together. This was so nice, and I would like to have it again. I would love to do this in the night before my birthday and wake up on my birthday finding myself in your arms."

Okay, that was an interesting request. From my personal point of view I was all for it, but I knew that I'd have to run this across her mother, and thus I replied:

"Prim, I would not mind at all granting this wish, but we will need to ask your mother, you understand?"

"Sure, why not – let's ask."

And indeed Prim asked when I delivered her home in the evening. Apparently Prim՚s doe eye look sometimes also worked with her own mother, and we got approval. A look between Mrs. Everdeen and me was sufficient to let her know that she could trust me and that I knew what I was and was not supposed to do with her daughter. The unspoken rule was, as I knew quite well, 'keep your hands above the waist'.

On the day before her birthday, I picked up Prim from school in the afternoon. We stopped by her home to get a bag with some clothes for her and moved on to the bakery. Dad of course knew about the sleepover plans, and he asked if she had any specific plans on how to spend the evening. She did not, and Dad suggested:

"Well, maybe you want to join us in playing a couple of games?"

Wheat and Peeta had found old books about board games, and although the material and instructions were incomplete, they had tried to construct a couple of games from cardboard and leftover construction material. A particular one was our favorite; the book had called it "Mensch ärgere dich nicht!", but no translation was provided. Wheat had cut out the board and pawns, Peeta had decorated and colored everything, and I had helped them testing the game and figuring out the rules. When playing the game, up to four people had to circle the board once with their pawns to get them home, with movement points decided by a die. When others managed to get to the same field, your pawn was sent back to the starting position. Whoever managed to get all four pawns home first had won. The rules looked simple, but the game was a lot of fun.

Prim was willing to give it a shot, and Peeta, Wheat, and I played as well, while Dad was just watching. As the rules were not overly complex, Prim got the idea of it quite quickly, and soon we had some heated discussions about who was being unfair to whom, and statements and insults were flowing around the table, like those:

"Peeta, what kind of a brother are you?"

"Ha, got you now – back to zero!"

"Prim, if you do this, I will pretend that I don't know you any longer!"

"Rye, you love me, right? So you won't move this pawn..."

"Wheat, this is for cutting your last shift in the bakery short!"

Before we noticed it was time for dinner, and afterwards we sat together talking for some time. Prim liked that and told us:

"At times like this one I miss my father. So I am really glad that I found a second family here and that you let me be a part of that!"

"Yeah, about being family..." Wheat started, "I guess it's your turn to bring the garbage out, Prim!"

Prim giggled and replied while grinning: "Sorry, I cannot do this. You are way too heavy for me to carry out."

We all started laughing, Wheat included once he had overcome his shock, and once we had calmed down again, Dad admitted: "Prim, you are the best. I have not encountered anyone who can match Wheat in his jokes, but it looks like you can. I need to talk to your mother about adopting and keeping you!"

Although we all realized that this was a joke, Prim replied nonetheless: "There is no need to adopt me, as I am your future daughter-in-law anyway!"

I was very proud of my girlfriend for her ability to integrate herself so nicely and for being so quick-witted, a skill which I totally lacked.

Soon after that Prim started to yawn and declared that it was time to get to bed. Dad had already told my brothers that Prim was going to stay for a sleepover, and he had specifically asked Wheat not to tease us too much about that.

Anyway, we went to the bathroom one after another and then hit the bed. My girlfriend insisted that we both sleep topless, and I accepted that, recalling how comfortable this had been the last time. I spooned her from behind, and quickly both us fell asleep.

When I woke up I noticed that my girlfriend had turned around while sleeping, as she was now facing me. I still had my arms around her, but her face was very close to mine, and she actually smiled while still sleeping. This felt so comfortable that I could have stayed like that forever. I could not resist the temptation and quickly pecked her lips with mine a couple of times, and her smile deepened. As I normally did, I had woken up some time before we actually had to get up, so that I could spend time just watching Prim while she was sleeping. During that time it hit me that waking up with her in my arms and seeing her lovely face first when opening my eyes in the morning was something I would not mind at all to happen more frequently, ideally on a daily basis. Well, maybe once we got married, that might happen, and it was clearly something to be looking forward to.

Of course it was kind of odd thinking about it, with me being 19 years old and Prim having her 10th birthday today, but it was a nice thought nonetheless. Wait – today was her birthday! I was getting curious if she liked waking up in my arms as much as I like to have her in my arms, and soon I would actually have to wake her. How to do that nicely? Not being quite sure about it, I decided for something which I knew she liked – back stroking and scratching. Slowly moving the arm which had freedom of movement – the other one was stuck by her body – up and down her back, I went about stroking and massaging her tiny body, and in addition to her smile she now started to moan a little. A few minutes later she slowly opened her eyes, closed them again, and then suddenly opened them wide, while also saying my name.

"Happy birthday, my dear Prim!" I whispered in her direction.

It took her another minute to realize that this was indeed her birthday, and she almost jumped up in bed, asking:

"Rye, thank you, but how did you manage to wake me up in a way which makes me feel so happy?"

"Well, I stroked your back for a few minutes."

"Yes, thank you, this was real nice. But there was something else; I dreamed that you were also touching my mouth..."

"Well, yes, I also blew a quick kiss on your lips while you were sleeping."

"Rye!" she complained and made a pouting like face. "This is totally unacceptable!"

She did not like it? Well, she was a little young for kissing, I guess, and it had been forward. But to my surprise my girlfriend continued:

"It is totally unacceptable that you only kissed me when I was sleeping and could not really appreciate it. How do you plan to correct this situation?"

Oh, looks like I had misunderstood, and wow.

I responded: "If you put it that way, there seems to be a single way only to amend..."

Seeing in her face that we were on the same page, I stopped talking and gave her a real tender kiss, with closed lips of course. She moaned, and when I moved back after a few seconds, she smiled again and sighed, with her eyes being closed:

"I have been kissed by a baker's vanilla scented lips!"

I had worked a lot with vanilla on the day before, and I guess that even the toothpaste had not managed to get all of that out. Wait, my toothpaste even was vanilla scented, as this was my favorite scent. Okay, good that she liked it.

I was not really surprised that Prim mentioned the kiss when we had breakfast together with Dad and Wheat; Peeta was already working in the bakery. Wheat looked disappointed when he heard about that, and he asked her:

"So, just to make sure, this was really the first kiss, today, on your 10th birthday?"

"Yes, it was!"

"Damn, I lost the bet."

"Language, Wheat!" my father scolded him.

And I asked, not quite sure what they were talking about: "Which bet?"

Wheat explained: "Oh, Peeta and I had a bet, and I said that you two would kiss before your 10th birthday, while Peeta disagreed. Could you not have kissed yesterday instead?"

Prim and I laughed, but my father also looked disappointed, so that I asked what was up with him. He replied:

"My bet was with Wheat. I was so sure that you'd kiss long before Prim՚s 10th birthday."

"You had a bet running as well, Dad?"

"Yes, I had."

When I had delivered Prim to school, I spent some time working, and in late afternoon I was at the Everdeen home for the birthday party. Prim was jumping up and down when she saw me, and she babbled so quickly that I did not get a single word.

"Prim, slow down!" I tried to tell her.

Apparently she was too excited to slow down, and rather pulled me behind the house. In a small shed I saw a goat which had not been there before, and the animal did not really look good, with a big wound along shoulder and neck. Prim proudly told me that it was hers:

"This is Lady, and she is a gift from Katniss, can you believe it?"

"Okay, but what about the wound?"

"That's why Katniss was able to purchase the goat for an affordable sum. Don't worry, I will have her back to full health soon enough."

Mrs. Everdeen explained later that Katniss had been extremely successful in hunting for a few days and had managed to trade some deer and turkeys for the goat, knowing that this would make her sister happy. In addition, the goat provided milk, and they had a family recipe to make excellent goat cheese from it.

I joked with Prim: "So you've got a cat and a goat now. What's next? A wolf maybe?"

She chuckled and replied: "If I knew where to get one from, sure."

School was out again for this year, and Reaping Day was upon us once more. I was participating as a visitor for the first time, as last year had been my last one to be eligible. Of course, I was concerned about others being chosen, like one of my brothers, and in two years I would have to worry about Prim as well. However, for this year none of the people I knew were reaped – they got a boy and girl both from the Seam, and they were also not friends of the Everdeen or Hawthorne family.

After showing the tribute interviews the games started a few days later, and I was at the Everdeen home for the starting scenes. For this year, the arena had a desert theme, showing rocks and sand and little vegetation; finding water probably was a top priority for the tributes. As soon as the countdown ended, almost all of the tributes started to run, some of them towards the Cornucopia and the others away from it, trying to find at least a small backpack or so. At first we though that the Cornucopia was in easy reach for the Careers, but about halfway from the starting platforms suddenly a tribute got caught in quicksand, followed by others. Most of the other tributes could not see that, and within minutes half of the tributes were out of the game.

I could feel Prim twitching on my lap each time the quicksand caught another tribute; there was no previous warning, as the quicksand looked like normal sand, at least on the cameras. The bloodbath was this time caused more by quicksand than by Careers, and it actually turned out that most Careers had actually perished there. The few remaining ones gathered around the Cornucopia, but the majority of the living tributes were out there somewhere. The camera also clearly showed that even the supplies around the Cornucopia did not provide much water, so that everyone would have to search for something to drink very soon.

At the end of this viewing session Prim asked timidly:

"Rye, do you remember that patch of sand near the meadow where he had played for a few times?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you think that there is quicksand there?"

"No, definitely not."

"How do you know?"

"Well, there was nothing when we played, and there was nothing the last couple of times Dad and I went there in winter to get more sand when we had lots of ice on the roads."

"Yes, but maybe this has changed by now?"

"No, it hasn't. That patch of sand is way too small for quicksand, and quicksand needs lots of humidity to form, whereas our patch of sand is mostly dry. No reason to worry there."

"How come you are so smart?"

"Well, I paid attention at school, I guess."

Prim chuckled, as I had successfully distracted her. I was glad that she was in a slightly better mood now and was about to take my leave for the day, but Prim had made it a habit not to let me go without a quick good bye kiss. Being her normal self, she was not shy at all about that and claimed her kiss right in front of her mother and sister. Katniss reacted by showing her trademark scowl, and Prim told her:

"Katniss, maybe you should also find a boyfriend!"

Her sister dryly replied:

"Having a boyfriend is a waste of time."

Prim was known to agree with her sister on almost everything, but now she shook her head and informed her sister resolutely:

"No Katniss, I do not agree. You don't know what you are talking about, as you've never had a boyfriend, and you don't really know what you are missing!"

A few days later we watched again at the bakery, and we were shown that a few tributes had already died from thirst. The gamemakers presented an eagle eye view of the arena a couple of times, and this showed that there were only two a couple of places with drinking water, like an oasis. They had a few small tress and bushes around each, which provided ample opportunity for laying an ambush. One of today's highlights showed that – two of the few remaining Careers had found an oasis, and they waited for others come for a drink. Most of the tributes who came were already weak, and killing them was not much of a challenge for the Careers.

The camera moved over to the other oasis, and a few tributes from higher numbered districts had gathered there. Apparently they had agreed to some temporary alliance, and they took turns resting, guarding, and scouting. The male tribute from district 10 had told them that he came from a more arid area in the district and was at least kind of used to a similar environment, and he took the lead and gave advice on what to do. They were even brave enough to send a scouting party towards the Cornucopia to find out if any supplies were left there, and this group managed to scrounge up a few more meager food rations and some utilities. The summary at the end of the day pointed out that the two Careers at one oasis and the five other tributes at the other one were all who were left alive in the game. A gamemaker՚s voice in the air announced a feast at the Cornucopia for the next morning at sunrise.

The subsequent viewing started with the first hints of daylight, and a number of items materialized around the Cornucopia. The bags were not labeled, and the tributes would have to find out if there was anything useful in them. The group of five non Careers all approached from one direction, and the two Careers from the other one. All of them moved carefully, as they had seen before how dangerous the quicksand could be, but eventually they were close to the Cornucopia.

One of the Careers was first and jumped forward to grab a few bags, but he had not seen the additional challenge the gamemakers had provided – a snake was hidden between some bags, and it took the opportunity to bite the boy. One of gamemakers explained for the viewers that this was a rattlesnake, and that it was was poisonous. The other Career was more careful and managed to grab one bag and hide with it. The other group had not seen what had happened, as the view was obstructed by the Cornucopia in the center, and two of the tributes also fell prey to a couple of snakes. The tall boy from district 10 managed to grab three bags, once he had carefully looked out for more snakes, and he also left with the bags. One more tribute was not careful enough and got trapped in quicksand, so that the remaining contestant now were only four – the one Career, the boy from district 10, and two girls who had by now decided to separate themselves from the others, they rightly assumed that any alliance would be at the end now with only four tributes remaining. The two girls had survived that long not by being strong, but evading fights and hiding successfully.

The next day's viewing showed the district 10 boy around the Cornucopia again. He had found a few waterskins in his bags, had traveled back to one oasis to fill them, and he was now busy laying traps around the Cornucopia. Part of his activity was to mark all of the quicksand patches he could identify with very unobtrusive signs, like a few pebbles. A couple of hours later the two girls showed up. They had not dared to come close to one of the oasis because they had been afraid of an ambush, and they now hoped to maybe find some goodies in one of the remaining bags. Well, they did, but the rattlesnakes were still around, and contrary to the district 10 boy, the girls did not pay attention to the rattle noise, and one of them got bitten. The other girl ran away screaming, lost her way, and ran straight into quicksand area.

When this happened, Prim was wiggling around on my lap again, and she had started sobbing. I stroked her hair and tried to comfort her as much as I could, and fortunately the mandatory viewing had ended at this time for now. This had been the morning viewing and the sun was shining brightly outside; I invited Prim to go outside and enjoy the nice day, and she agreed.

While we were walking, a peacekeeper stopped us for interrogation about the game's events. The most challenging question was for the name of the snakes which had been released around the Cornucopia, but I had paid attention and recalled that they were called 'rattlesnakes'. I took Prim to the bakery first and grabbed some food, and then we went to our meadow. After some time of just sitting there and relaxing, Prim had a few questions:

"Do we have snakes like those in our district?"

"Not that I am aware of. The gamemakers had briefly mentioned that the rattlesnake is at home in hot and dry areas, and this would not fit our environment at all. We have a few snakes here, but they are only grass snakes and such, not poisonous and totally harmless."

"I still might get some nightmares about snakes and quicksand."

"Yes, not a pretty thought, I know."

We sat there for some time again, enjoying the sunshine, and I presented the food I had gathered before on the blanket. Prim did not need a written invitation or so and started to help herself, while smiling at me.

Next day's viewing had what we expected to be the end of the games. Only the district 10 boy and the last Career were left alive in the arena, and the final showdown was likely to happen today. As a matter of fact we did not have to wait long, as the Career boy tried to force the decision and moved towards the Cornucopia again. He was moving carefully, being aware of the danger from quicksand spots and rattlesnakes, but contrary to his opponent he did not know where all of the quicksand spots were located. All of us expected the boy from district 10 to lure his opponent into a quicksand, but he was getting overconfident and did not realize that the Career boy hid something behind his back. That thing turned out to be a bow, and before we knew it, the Career had shot his opponent in the chest. It was not enough to kill, but the poor boy dropped to the ground. The Career was seen to take his time, carefully proceeding forward, and he reached the other boy, cutting his throat with some kind of dagger.

The games were decided and the victor called out, and this was that.

_[Author's Notes: There is indeed a German board game called 'Mensch ärgere dich nicht' (something like 'human, do not get angry'), and it is very popular in our country. I do not know if there is a direct equivalent in English speaking countries.]_


	18. Chapter 18 - A goat for my birthday

**Chapter 18: A goat for my birthday**

_[Summer in the year of the 72__nd__ Hunger Games]_

Once the victor interview and celebration was done three days after the games, we were finally free to enjoy the summer holidays. Well, the school children were, whereas I had to work, of course. However, I was lucky because I actually liked my work. There was a nice balance between paperwork and administrative stuff to do one one side and practical construction and repair work on the other side. Working with the mayor on the admin issues gave me some insight on how the district was governed, while Mark and I worked nicely together on the construction front, and we made a good team. Gale still helped out from time to time, specifically now during the holidays, and while we occasionally had to do some repair work on Seam homes, we focused again on the school building and grounds, taking advantage of having the place for ourselves with no kids in the way.

At the bakery at home, Dad had been interviewing a few applicants for the position as bakery apprentice, and he had made a choice. To our surprise, the new person was a boy from the Seam. His name was Philip, and he had graduated from school just recently. Normally he would have started in the mines, but he had been able to demonstrate to Dad that he had some skills in a kitchen, and so he got hired. We would take turns in training him, and although he was initially a little shy, he would get used to us sooner or later, I guessed.

In order to get him introduced to the family, we had a dinner together at the end of his first week, and Prim also joined. Poor Philip was a little confused about not finding a grown woman, but only a little girl at my side, specifically one who looked like Merchant, but told him that she was Seam. He was even more surprised when he learned that she was my girlfriend. Prim took the initiative:

"So, do you have a girlfriend, Philip?"

The poor boy just shook his head.

"Don't have one or don't want to tell us?"

"Don't have one" the poor boy whispered.

"Then this is the right place here" Prim stated. "You will learn how to make good cakes and bread, and this is going to be something you can use to impress the girls later on".

"You think so?"

"Yes, sure"

With Prim՚s remarks Philip started to live up a little, although he looked confused about a ten year old girl giving him advice on dating, and we had a nice evening together. Of course, as it turned out later on, Wheat was going to tease him a lot on various things, but he did that with all of us. Anyway, we would have to wait and see how quickly Philip's baking skills were going to improve.

Regarding the repair efforts and maintenance at school, we were asked to focus on renovations and required repair work in some classrooms, but we should also look at the grounds where the children were supposed to spend their breaks. There was an open break area, and there was some kind of sports field for the kids to practice running, and both were in bad shape. The break area had only very few places to sit on and no toys, and the sports area needed more variation. At this time, there was basically just an oval for running and not much else. Mayor Undersee told me:

"Children need to get proper physical education in parallel with learning. Specifically in order to be prepared for coal mining later on, this is critical, and I have requested some material and budget on that basis from the Capitol. I have not received much, but something should arrive with the next train. I want Mark and you to find out what you can do with what we get."

I replied: "We will certainly try to do our best, there. For proper physical education we will need advice from a teacher, though, I should guess."

"You are right, of course." the mayor responded. "I will send one of the sports teachers over after the train has arrived."

"Thank you, sir" I concluded the conversation.

While we were waiting for the train with supplies to arrive, Mark and I first looked at what we had on the school premises. There was a shed with some supplies like lumber, wooden beams, nails, screws, and some paint, and we should be able to use those in addition to what we would receive. Further, there were a few abandoned buildings in the Seam, too old and worn to repair, and we had permission to loot those and reuse whatever we could.

The supply train arrived a couple of day later, and we had to make a few trips with a cart to get all of the material to the school shed. The sports teacher, a Mr. Wilkins – he had recently arrived from another district and he had never been one of my teachers – showed up right away, and we told him what we had. He looked and then explained:

"Look, we don't really need much for a start. Right now all we have for outdoor sports is the oval for running. I want to get a practice area for jumping and one for throwing weights, if that is possible."

He had actually drawn a few illustrations about his ideas, and while his drawings were not on par with what Peeta was able to do, we could easily see what the idea was. The jumping idea was to have a short track for running, a bar to jump from, and some kind of sandbox to come down in, and he wanted to be able to measure the distance being jumped. For the throwing, Mr. Wilkins wanted to have some weights of a few kg each, ideally as spheres, and some kind of small round area from where to throw from. A sand area formed like a section of a circle should allow the distance measurement.

Mr. Wilkins further explained: "If we can have this ready soon after school start, I can have at least some kind of triathlon with running, jumping, and throwing rather than just running. Why don't you focus on that, and later on we can see what else can be done."

I nodded and promised that we would see what could be done. Mr. Wilkins added:

"I would like to keep the main area inside the oval with grass for some ball games; can you use the outer areas, inside of the curves, for the new stuff?"

I nodded again and replied: "Sure, this should be a problem at all. Let us see what we can do, and we will let you know once we have something set up."

On the next day Mark, Gale, and myself started to get to work. Mark was concerned about the area where the jumpers needed to accelerate to top speed:

"What are we going to use for that? We have plenty of sand, but on sand kids might slip, and they probably cannot run very fast."

"True," I responded, "let's just check what we have and find out what's best."

It turned out after some testing that we had a lot of roofing cardboard, which was mostly made of tar, and this provided very good friction to run on. Prim knew that we were working here today and she stopped by later on, asking if she could help. Thinking about it I told her:

"Actually, yes, you can. We are experimenting with different kind of material to run on for jumping, and we have different kind of roofing cardboard. I would like to lay out a few tracks with different material, and while I can see how this works out for larger and heavy children, you could give us a feeling for small and lightweight kids."

Half an hour later I had various tracks laid out on the ground, and we all took turns to run on them and judge how good traction was and if there a risk of slipping. We also decided on the size of the sandbox where the participants could jump into, while the throwing area would to wait for a later day. Eventually Prim asked when we had planned to finish for the day, and I found that we had worked for much longer than intended. I replied:

"Good point, Prim. Normally we would have called it a day hours ago, but sometimes I tend to forget about time when you are around. Have you had supper yet?"

My girlfriend shook her head, and I decided to get us to the bakery for some food; Mark was also invited. We got some slices of bread and leftover meat from a rabbit Katniss had traded in recently, and for desert there were a few cupcakes which we had not sold today. Mark soon took his leave, and I walked Prim home.

The night was a very clear one, and when we had reached some distance from the lighted Merchant homes, lots of stars were visible in the sky. I stopped and looked up, and Prim did the same when she saw what I was doing. The milkyway was not visible, though, as a three quarter moon was shining too brightly for that.

"The moon." Prim started to say quietly. "I wonder what's up there? Are there people living on the moon, what do you think?"

"I don't know" I replied. "At school they don't say a lot about the moon and the planets and the stars, but from what I have heard, the moon seems to lack air for breathing."

"What a pity!" Prim said. "It would be nice to fly up there for vacation or so."

"Maybe one could try to build a huge cannon and thus shoot a large projectile there. If it is a hollow one, it could take a few passengers, but it might get tricky for them to return, I guess. However, I have to admit that I am much more curious about what's outside of the fence down here on Earth."

"Oh yes, me too. Maybe when I am grown up I will talk Katniss into running away from the district and staying out there, far away from everything..."

"But I would sure miss you!"

"Silly, I wouldn't go without you, naturally!"

"Glad to hear that, and I wouldn't want to stay behind if you left."

Dark clouds were everywhere and rain coming down, so that next day was not a good one to continue working outside. Rather, Mayor Undersee made me write up some reports and help him to plan future distribution of supplies. We knew that the cold part of the year was coming, and the good mayor wanted to be prepared as well as he could.

Prim and I spent most of the evenings together, and most of the time we shared supper, either at the bakery or at the Everdeen home. When we were in the Everdeen house, Prim՚s cat, Buttercup, was carefully watching me most of the time. Somehow I got the feeling that he did not like me to be so cozy with Prim. However, also Katniss was not really on friendly terms with the cat and tolerated more than like him.

Lady, Prim՚s goat, was a different story entirely. Whoever approached her with some food or even just an open hand to stroke her fur was welcome. However, she did not fell comfortable for anybody but Prim to milk her, and I did not even want to try.

At this time of the year Prim was also frequently working in the garden behind the house, sometimes alone, and sometimes together with her mother or Lizzy or both. When I came over after work I usually joined them and also helped with whatever there was to do. Both Prim and Lizzy were getting quite knowledgeable about various plants and their medicinal use, and that was good, as we had neither a doctor nor a hospital in the district, and we rarely received even the most basic medicine from the Capitol. Mrs. Everdeen once told me:

"Those two girls would be wonderful doctors one day, I believe. They are gifted in how they care about the medicinal plants, and Prim has assisted me a lot already in treating sick and injured people. Lizzy has already shown interest as well, and maybe I will take her as assistant as well next year. However, both of them will likely never get a chance to study and become doctors, and this makes me quite sad."

There was not much I could add, so I just nodded. It was really sad; quite of few of the young people in the district had potential to learn and do something great, but could not. Rather, they either could learn a merchant trade – if they were 'Townies' – or do coal mining, one of the very few options for young 'Seam' people graduating from school. Some of us were lucky, like myself, with finding an occupation which was kind of nice, but most of the coal miners simply did not have a choice, and the mines, even while paying poorly, were the only means to feed the families. Sometimes I wondered how many citizens managed to look quite happy most of the time. Maybe some of them just did not know any better, whereas I had seen some glimpses from other districts in the Justice Building.

Coming to the Everdeens after work was something I really enjoyed. When there was rain, Prim sometimes waited for me in the bakery, but on nice days, she would work in her garden and wait for me to join. I always smiled when I walked around the house, because she was usually too busy to notice me right away. When she did, I saw her eyes getting bright, the corners of her mouth going up, and her entire face lighting up like Christmas. Then she would run towards me, jump into my arms, hug me and look at me with her fantastic smile until she got a quick kiss. She would usually show me what she had done, and I would also get my hands dirty helping her. Lizzy, when she was there, sometimes commented on us like this:

"Look at the two of you, you are so happy and cozy with each other like newlyweds, but I am happy for you, too."

Even Mrs. Everdeen, when she was home, sometimes could not help herself and also smiled a little bit at least when she saw us together, specifically when we played some games like eating a carrot together, Prim starting at one end and I on the other, which inevitably ended in a kiss, of course. Little games like that always made my cute petite girlfriend giggle and smile, and I just loved to see and hear that.

A few days before the new school year started we went to our meadow again on one of my free days, and Lizzy and Posy were with us as well. Posy was always fun when she was with us, and she enjoyed the attention she got from us. Lizzy was just a few months older than Prim, and she also found a few hours at the meadow to be quite relaxing.

Today the sun was shining from a cloudless sky, some summer flowers provided colored dots around, and bees were busy humming from blossom to blossom. Prim decided that we needed to have a staring contest. We liked to look into each other's eyes for some time and could kind of lose ourselves in there, unless one was distracted. Today Lizzy should judge which of us got distracted first. Thus, both my girlfriend and I sat down across from each other within a very short distance, and we started to look at each other. I had deliberately placed myself next to a large group of daisies and crysanthemum flowers, and I tried to take advantage of that by saying:

"Prim, have you looked at the beautiful flowers next to me yet? They are particularly colorful and pretty today, aren't they?"

Of course, this did not work, but was worth a try.

Prim also tried something:

"Rye, look at all of those birds high up in the sky. Wouldn't you want top be up there, too?"

So far both us had managed to stay serious and keep focused. Lizzy already started to giggle. And Posy, liking that, started to giggle as well.

Eventually I got an idea. As my upper body was just clad in a tee shirt with very short sleeves, I flexed my right arm and did my best to let the muscles show. I saw Prim՚s view flickering, and I continued to bend and stretch my arm a few times. Finally Prim gave up and looked at my arm rather than into my eyes any longer.

"I won!" I shouted.

"You cheated!" Prim objected.

"Why is that cheating?"

"I don't know, but it just is."

"Poor Prim just does not like to lose, I guess."

"What am I going to do with you!" Prim sighed. "I am having so much fun with you!"

Lizzy started to laugh again and told us:

"And it is really funny to be around the two of you. The games you play are silly but totally funny!"

Until the new school years started, Mark and Gale and I had succeeded to complete the two additions to the outdoor sports place, and Mr. Wilkins was quite happy with that. Prim started fifth grade now, and again I sometimes managed to have my own lunch break at school, on days when Prim had afternoon lessons, and most of the time we were joined by Delly, Madge, Lizzy, and sometimes Peeta or Katniss. Gale and Rory Hawthorne also made it a habit to sit with us occasionally. I liked it to have kids of different ages around, and we heard all kind of gossip and news from different classes while eating. Madge was not talking much most of the time, and I understood why she was one of Katniss' best friends. To be honest, I was also not a great talker, but Delly and Prim easily compensated for that.

Kids in Prim՚s and Lizzy՚s age were mostly worried about school work, homework, and games, but specifically Delly had all kind of information available on who was currently friends with whom or who had broken up with whom. Gale was still considered one of the most attractive boys at school, and quite a few girls swooned over him and batted their eyelashes at him when passing our table. He behaved as if he did not care, but I knew that he occasionally took a girl to the Slag Heap. He did not talk about that in public, but sometimes we had some 'men conversation' when working together, when no girls were around.

When my birthday was getting closer, I was asked by all of them if I wanted to get something special, and I honestly admitted to the whole group around the table:

"You know, I really cannot complain. I live at the bakery and get decent food, I have a job which allows to do some useful work and which I like, and in particular I have the best girlfriend in the whole world. Prim is all I need to be happy, and she is so much better than any present I could ever get, really!"

Prim loved to hear that, of course, and she showed her wide smile immediately. She hopped onto my lap, gave me a long hug and a quick kiss, and decided to make herself comfortable on me, which she knew I would not mind at all.

When she saw that, Delly went a little gooey and said: "It is so cute to watch you two together. I so wish that I also had a boyfriend saying nice things about me."

Delly was a real popular girl and liked by almost everybody, but so far she had not been able to get into some kind of relationship. I mean, she was Peeta՚s age and only 14, so from my point of view there was no hurry. I could understand, though, why some girls got envious of Prim, who was only 10.

I woke up in the morning of my 20th birthday, and my father and brothers and I had a nice birthday breakfast together. Usually, they'd have a few small presents for in the morning, but not today, and my father told me:

"Son, this year we and a few of your friends worked together to get you a larger present, and we will hand it over as soon as your friends are here in the afternoon."

This was just all right for, and I left home to get to work. Prim had been conspicuously absent for the last few days and also today so far, which had surprised me, until Mrs. Everdeen had hinted that my birthday was coming up; maybe she was also involved in preparing that larger present.

When I got home after work, there a small birthday cake waiting for me together with my friends Tyler, Karl, and Delly. My brothers and father were there, and Mrs. Everdeen had also arrived; she told me that Prim would show up later and it would be a surprise. When I entered the living room, there was a very large box standing there in the center, and it had a number of small holes in it. The box was partially wrapper in paper, and there was a large sign saying 'For Rye'. Of course I was getting curious about the content, but before I could start to open the box I could see and hear something moving inside, and I asked around:

"Don't tell me that there's a goat or a cat or something like that inside!"

They all shrugged and grinned, and I had to work on opening the box to find out. Of course, opening the large box required some work, and I did need to get some tools to achieve that. Once I had managed to open part of one side, I glimpsed inside, and I could indeed see part of a goat pelt, and it clearly moved around.

"Oh no," I moaned, "You actually got me a goat. This is more a prank than a birthday gift! What am I supposed to do with a goat?"

Everybody laughed, and I got the feeling that I was missing something important. I managed to open the side further, and I noticed that the goat had two small baskets hanging on the sides, and there was some kind of collar with a big sign attached: 'Rye's personal goat for happiness'.

"A goat is supposed to make me happy? Seriously?" I asked around, shaking my head, not getting the point.

Looking inside the box again, I noticed that the goat looked a little odd. The head seemed to be too large, and somehow body proportions were off, at least according to what I had seen from Prim՚s goat 'Lady'. Hm, maybe another animal similar to a goat? I scratched my head and opened the box further to allow the goat to step out, and suddenly I heard a giggle from the goat. Goats could giggle? Well, what did I know.

Delly looked at me and asked:

"You are still not getting it, are you?"

"Whatever it is, obviously not." I replied and shrugged.

"Check out the goat again!" she suggested.

Obediently I looked again and noticed that the animal's hooves were not real hooves, but more like shoes formed like hooves. There was another giggle, louder this time, and suddenly the goat jumped at me. I was not prepared for that and fell down on the carpet in our living room, with the 'goat' right on top of me. Now I heard even more giggling very close to me; the 'goat' awkwardly wrapped its front legs around my neck, and suddenly I noticed that the giggling sounded very familiar. As I did not think a goat would be able and willing to wrap legs or arms around me, I finally realized that there must be a human being hidden in the goat pelt, and this could only be Prim:

"Prim, is that you in that goat pelt?"

"Yes, silly, of course. Took you long enough to get it!" a muffled voice sounded from the goat's head.

Everybody around me was laughing now, and eventually I joined in, with the 'goat' still being kind of wrapped around me. Dad explained:

"Well, they heard you saying at school that Prim was everything you needed to be happy. Katniss was able to trade for a large goat pelt, and we made a team effort to fit it for Prim. Over the last few days I think she had as much fun as we had making that look kind of real."

"Well, it sure looked real enough to fool me!"

Addressing my girlfriend, who was still in my arms, I asked:

"Prim, would you like to get out of the costume?"

"No, not at all, it's fun to be wearing it. I totally enjoy to be your pet for today, and you will need to feed me!"

I laughed and replied: "Okay, I can do this."

Eating the cake and drinking juice and hot chocolate was fun. Prim was sitting on my lap; in order to eat and drink, I had to removed her head mask, but as hooves were also attached to her hands, I head to feed her. Sometimes she hopped down to the ground, and raised her arms kind of begging for food like a puppy might do, and all of us laughed again. Before eating we had removed the baskets from her side, which had a few small additional presents in them.

Later on the evening my friends took their leave, and they all assured me that they had had a lot of fun and that they had really enjoyed playing that prank on me. Mrs. Everdeen also wanted to go home, but Prim wanted to stay. She insisted on being my special pet for the night, too. Her mother smiled and took her leave. Prim had a bag with clothes in the box as well, but wanted to stay in the costume for the time being. Before going to bed, I had to help her undoing a few buttons between her legs so that she could relieve herself, but she insisted to go to bed still being dressed as a goat. Well, she was a ten year old girl, and I loved to play her games with her, so that was okay.

It was a strange feeling to cuddle with a 'goat' rather than a girl for a change, and on the next morning I needed her to have a shower in my bathroom before I could send her off to school. I did not think that it would have been a good idea going out with that goat smell on her and being somewhat sweaty. Later on, I also had to give my room a long airing.

Of course we kept the costume around; maybe we could have more fun with it in future.

_[Author's Notes: The idea to shoot a projectile with people in it to the moon with a huge cannon is taken from a novel written by the French Science Fiction author Jules Verne, of course. I do not speak French and read the German translation, titled 'Von der Erde zum Mond'._

_About the goat costume, I imagine that it might look like some 'Onesies' you can buy nowadays, but made from a real goat pelt and somehow much more realistic.]_


	19. Chapter 19 - Primrose with broken wings

**Chapter 19: Primrose with broken wings**

_[Winter after the 72__nd__ Hunger Games]_

When winter settled in this year, Mr. Everdeen told me that more coal miners than usual complained about not feeling well, and she found them to have mostly cold symptoms and some fever. That was by itself not really alarming; most Seam houses were poorly heated and most coal miners had to survive on meager food, so that even a simple cold could easily turn into something more serious like a lung infection, as the citizens' immune system was not properly supported.

The district neither had a hospital nor a medical doctor, so that healers like Mrs. Everdeen were all we had. Lacking access to high quality medicine, healers had acquainted expertise in plants and their healing capabilities, and some of them had become very capable in using those. There were limits to what they could achieve, though. We had no means of doing any kind of major surgery, and proper detection of illnesses was also difficult.

During one of the evenings I spent with my girlfriend at the Everdeen home her mother mentioned:

"I have a feeling that something is wrong. There are way too many coal miners with typical symptoms, and I suspect this is not only caused by port living and working conditions, but maybe some nasty virus."

"What are you going to do about it, Mrs. Everdeen?" I asked.

She shook her head: "There is not much I can do at all, unfortunately. Better food and better heating would work to strengthen the immune system, but that is not available to most miners. I can provide soup with some sustenance, and a few herbs will support the affected people, but that's about it."

"By the way, Ryan," she continued, "we have been friends for a long time now, and it's about time that you address me by first name rather than last. Please call me Mabel from now on."

"With pleasure, Mabel" I replied.

A few days later the annual victory tour started in our district, and when we were all gathered outside of the Justice Building, I could hear quite a few miners coughing and not looking very healthy at all. Once we had suffered through the usual speeches and the train had left again, I went to the mayor's office and asked:

"Sir, sure you have noticed that a lot of people are sick. Is there anything we can do about it?"

"Son, the only thing the Capitol cares about is coal, as much as our district is concerned. However, as the amount of coal will be reduced if too many coal miners get sick, I may have a chance to make the Capitol do something. I have already told them, and they have promised to at least send some medicine with the next train."

Indeed we received a large box with medicine from the Capitol when the next train came a few days later, and all healers in the district got their share to use as they saw fit. Mrs. Everdeen told me:

"It's not one of their wonder medicines, this is for sure. It should be good enough to prevent most ill people from dying and have them recover slowly, if they get proper rest and care. This is at least something."

She now turned towards Prim and said: "Primrose, I really need your help, as there are too many sick people to take care of. I would like to take you out of school for a few days so that you can assist me; is that all right for you?"

Prim nodded: "Of course, Mom. You know that I will do my best to help."

I was curious about something: "With Prim assisting you, isn't there a risk that the two of you get this illness as well?"

Mrs. Everdeen looked at me: "Yes, indeed. But what can I do? We have too few healers and no real doctors, and Prim is really good in what she is doing."

A couple of days later, when I came to visit my girlfriend after work, I found her upstairs in her room, attended by her mother. One of her arms was in a splint, and the other one was badly bruised, and Prim looked quite worn and exhausted. I was shocked to see that, and Mrs. Everdeen hurried to explain when she noticed me:

"Ryan, I am glad to see you. Primrose got injured today while she was helping me. We were treating a sick coal miner in his Seam house, when Prim was trying to get some supplies from a rack. The rack was lose and fell down on her, braking her right arm and spraining her left wrist. She also got quite a few bruises on various parts of her body, but no internal injuries as much as I can tell."

Of course I moved over to my girlfriend and touched her cheeks, and she started to smile.

Mrs. Everdeen continued: "Ryan, I have to ask a favor. I don't have time to focus much on Primrose, as so many sick people in the Seam need me. Katniss promised to help out at the Hawthornes, as two of their kids are also sick. Of course she would stay here with Prim, but the Hawthorne family really needs her badly. Can you take Primrose home with you and be there for her? You probably realize that you'd have to help her with almost everything – with a broken arm right and a sprained wrist left there's not much she can do at all, but there's really nobody except Katniss I'd want her to be with for all of that. Also, knowing you, this is probably not something you'd mind doing, right?"

I nodded and confirmed: "Of course I will gladly take care of Prim. I will have to talk to the mayor about reducing my work hours for a few weeks, but due to adverse weather there's not much we can do outdoors anyway, so this should not be a problem. Can you please put some of her clothes in a bag?"

Soon I carried my girlfriend, wrapped in a thick blanket, through the snow covered roads to the bakery. First we stopped in the living room where Dad was reading a book, and I informed him about the situation. He looked at Prim and said:

"Poor girl; does it hurt a lot?"

Prim shook he head: "Not, not much, only if I try to move my arms. Mom has told me that I should try to not do this, and I will do my best. For now I am just tired and exhausted."

Dad looked at her: "I guess when you feel an itching somewhere you've got a problem."

Despite her tiredness Prim smiled and replied: "Not really, as long as I've got my boyfriend around!"

I picked her up again to get upstairs and placed her on the bed in my room.

"Are you all right for now?" I asked. "I will need to get back and grab your bag, but I should be back in half an hour."

"Yes, I am all right" Prim confirmed and nodded.

I went down again and walked over to the Seam towards the Everdeen home. Outside I met Lizzy, one of Prim՚s best friends, and told her about Prim՚s situation. Lizzy looked sad for her friend, and I suggested:

"Lizzy, when you want to come over at some time to talk with Prim, please feel free to do this at any time. Prim will be glad to get a visitor, and we all don't mind visitors at all. None of us at the bakery will mock you for being Seam, and you can have some snacks with us."

"Really, I could do that? Some of the shop owners have not treated me well when I entered their shops, and I have been warned about that by my parents."

"I am afraid that some Merchants behave that way, yes, and my mother used to discriminate against Seam, too. Please rest assured that we at the bakery do not, and everybody is welcome there, Merchant and Seam both."

Lizzy smiled now and replied: "Thank you for the kind invitation, Mr. Mellark, and I will certainly show up at some time."

Mrs. Everdeen had already left again, but Katniss was in when I picked up the bag with Prim՚s clothes. She asked me:

"You will take good care of my little sister?"

"Yes, I will, Katniss. You know that she is very dear to me, and it will be a pleasure to have her around."

She just nodded; Katniss Everdeen was not a friend of many words. Maybe that was a side effect of hunting: talking a lot scared the animals away, or so I had heard.

When I got back to the bakery, I hurried upstairs to my room, to find Wheat in there talking to my girlfriend. I first thought that he was going to make fun of us again, but Prim had shown him her injuries, and he was actually looking concerned and sympathetic. He told us:

"Prim, Rye, if I can help with anything, just let me know. Looks like you are going to be here for some time, Prim. I hope that you feel right at home, and we will make sure to feed you properly at least."

Prim managed a weak smile, and Wheat left. Now, looking at her, I asked:

"What would you like to do for the rest of the day, my dear?"

"I am afraid that I first need to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, let's do that first – I guess that I will have to pull your pants down, right?"

She nodded, and we performed this necessary business. Afterwards, I pondered the situation: "Hm, pulling pants down every time might be a little cumbersome; what about we get you something else to wear? If I gave you one my tee shirts, it would be like a dress for you, probably going down to your knees, and I'd only have to lift it up when you need to go."

Prim replied: "Yes, that might be quite comfortable. But getting a shirt over my arms might be a challenge."

"Oh, yes, you are right." I understood. "But, on the other side, you are not supposed to move and use your arms anyway, right?"

Prim nodded, and I continued: "We can as well get once of my tee shirts on you and not use the arm openings, but have your arms rather kind of fixed close to your chest, this would discourage you from using them a little bit, I think."

Prim looked a little sad and replied: "It is odd to be told not to use your arms at all. If I wasn't with you, this would probably drive me crazy. But yes, let's give it a shot."

My girlfriend's current shirt was stained with blood and dirt, and after getting approval from her, I simply cut it off her body to avoid moving her arms to get them through the sleeves. Her tank top was faring better, and I left that on her for now. She selected one of my tee shirts, and I pulled it over her head, and indeed it reached almost down to her knees.

"Are you comfortable like this?" I asked.

"Well, comfortable may not really be the word I'd use," she replied, "but good enough, thank you."

"All right – what's next?"

"I guess I could use something to eat, if that's all right."

"Okay, I will see what I can find in the kitchen – I will be back soon!"

Peeta had prepared a soup today, and I took a bowl with soup upstairs on a tray, together with a few cookies. Being fully aware that I needed to feed Prim, I made her sit on the bed with her back to the wall, placed the tray on a small table and myself next to her on the bed, facing her. Prim smirked and chuckled a little, saying:

"It has been a while since I was small and Dad and Mom needed to feed me. This is going to be quite some experience, I guess. Jut do me a favor, will you? Don't make me laugh when I eat. If you do, your bed cover will be full of soup!"

She had a point there, and I decided to do my best and behave, but teased her a little beforehand:

"So, nothing like 'another spoon for Daddy' and 'yet another spoonful for Mommy'?"

"No," Prim chuckled again, "not good!"

"Too bad," I continued to tease, "as I was just thinking that this could be a perfect opportunity to practice handling a baby. I mean, I will have to feed you, make you burp, I have to help you to go to the bathroom – actually, as a matter of fact, I could get some diapers and practice on you how to properly change them, applying baby powder and all..."

Prim burst out laughing and said: "Don't you dare! On the other hand, some of those things might actually be fun. I might want to see how you make me burp at least when I am done eating."

"Deal!" I replied. "I will skip the diapers, but I will try my best to make you burp when you are done with the soup."

For her benefit, I somehow managed to keep a neutral face while we were eating the soup. I alternated between pushing one spoonful in her mouth and in mine, and we managed to eat the entire content of the bowl I had brought up with me. For desert I had placed a few cookies on the tray, and we ate those as well, with me handing one of the cookies to her when she wanted to bite. When we were done, Prim sighed and told me:

"Thank you, Rye, that was good. I am full now, and you can stop feeding me for today, I guess. However, I may be looking forward to breakfast tomorrow."

I smirked, put the tray and our napkins aside, and grabbed Prim around the waist, carefully avoiding to move her arms, lifting her up and moving her head over my shoulder, shaking her up and down a little bit. She yelped:

"What is that supposed to be?"

"Trying to make you burp, as promised!"

"You really want to do this?" Prim giggled.

"Of course, this is going to be fun!"

Prim burst out laughing again, and I joined her, but continued to shake her body and push her stomach from time to time. Dad must have heard the commotion, as he came in and looked at us:

"I guess you two must have a lot of fun – I could hear you from downstairs."

"Sure, Dad, we have fun – Prim needs to burp after being fed, and I am trying to make her."

"You are trying to do what? Make her burp? Seriously?"

Dad almost could not believe it, but Prim՚s stomach used the opportunity to release a bubble of air upwards right at this time, and her burp was very distinct.

"Yeah, we did it!" I shouted, and now all three of us were laughing.

"How old are you again, Ryan?"

"You know," I replied when I had calmed down a little bit, "with Prim I sometimes feel like I am half my real age or so."

Later on, when I had brought the tray down again and we had talked a little, I could see Prim yawning again. She had had a long day, and the amount of work helping her mother combined with her injuries sure made her tired. I helped her to the bathroom again and also brushed her teeth, and finally I cleaned her face with a washcloth. When I had laid her down in bed and covered her, she asked:

"Rye, I am getting tired, but before I get to sleep, can you read something to me?"

"Sure – anything specific?"

"Is there a fairy tale I do now know yet?"

"Hm, let me see."

I went into the storage room where we had the few boxes of old books and games, and earlier I had already seen something which I eventually would want to read. It was a nice book with partially colored printing, and I took it up to my room.

"I found something; let's see how this starts. It is called 'The NeverEnding Story', from a person called 'Michael Ende'. It has a lot of pages, and we might be able to finish it if I read a few pages each night while you are here. What do you think?"

"Yes, let's go for it!"

I started to read about a shy boy called 'Bastian Balthasar Bux', who finds an odd book in a bookstore and starts to read it in the school's attic, but at that time Prim was already asleep, with a smile on her lips. I guessed that she had liked how this story started, and I was looking forward to the next few pages tomorrow.

I went downstairs to talk for a while with Dad and my brothers, and Philip, the new bakery assistant, also joined us for some time. Philip was getting used to baking, and he learned quickly. Dad had selected the proper person to hire, and Philip was quite happy with the little money and free food he got from us. Eventually I got to bed as well, cuddling close to my girlfriend who was already asleep.

When I woke up early in the morning, I found myself turned towards my girlfriend, and her face was what I noticed first. She was still asleep, and I enjoyed watching her for some time, before I got up. After my bathroom chores, I found my father downstairs, we talked a little and had a quick breakfast. Looking around, I collected some food for Prim՚s breakfast and prepared a cup of hot chocolate for her as well. For an appetizer, to get her awake, I picked a cheese bun which was just fresh out of the oven and still had a very strong and enticing smell.

Upstairs again I placed the tray close to the bed and waved the fresh cheese bun under Prim՚s nose. Still in her sleep, she started to sniff the air for some time, and finally she opened her eyes and was quite delighted to find the cheese bun hold close to her. Before I noticed, she had used her teeth and ripped a piece off. After chewing and swallowing she smiled at me:

"What a wonderful way to wake up! Is this breakfast for me?"

"Yes, it is," I nodded, "why don't you sit up and enjoy."

I helped her to sit up and rest her body against the wall, same as last evening, and I fed her with the bread, cheese bun, and hot chocolate until she was full. When we were done with eating and had talked for some time, I noticed that her way of speaking was somewhat different from normal, and I asked:

"Prim, did something in your mouth get injured as well? You talk a little odd?"

"What?" she replied. "Oh, that's probably because of my missing teeth." She opened her mouth wide for me to see, and there were not only one or two gaps, but a total of five, where the baby teeth had gone out and the next ones not yet there. Of course, she was still in that age range.

Mid morning my father guided Mrs. Everdeen upstairs. Naturally she was concerned about how her daughter was doing, but she found Prim looking quite happy, considering the breakfast she had had earlier; the empty tray was still around.

"Mom!" Prim yelled. "Look, I had breakfast in bed!"

"Yes, I see – good morning, you two."

"Rye has been taking such good care of me!" Prim continued to report. "Yesterday he also fed me, and he even read a good night story to me!"

"Yes, and after feeding her I made her burp and suggested to change diapers on her, but for some reason she was not really in favor of the latter." I teased.

"Rye!" Prim complained and tried to look annoyed, but started to chuckle instead.

"You did what?" Mrs. Everdeen could not believe that, I guessed.

"I made her burp after being fed, and it worked!"

Mrs. Everdeen reacted in a way I had not quite expected, and she laughed heartily, and almost could not stop again. When she had finally calmed down, she told us:

"Ryan, you just managed to make me do something I have not really been able to do much since my husband died – you made me laugh. Thank you very much for that. And thank you, too, Prim, for being part of that. Just one question: Why did you think about diapers?"

"Oh, I just thought that I could practice for later when we have kids of our own."

"You did? Really? Well, I guess you will be wonderful father eventually. But please do not even think about making babies with Prim anytime soon; this is nothing a mother wants to know, and it will have to wait for quite a few years anyway!"

Mrs. Everdeen – I found it difficult to call her 'Mabel' rather than 'Mrs. Everdeen' in my mind – looked more amused than concerned, though, and I replied truthfully:

"I am afraid that I can not do this, Mabel. My mind occasionally goes in wild directions, and I am not always in control of my thoughts and my dreams, I admit. However, as Prim and I have talked about that some topic time ago, I assure you that we both agreed not to actually do anything in that direction before we are married."

"Well, considering that you seem to be a healthy young man, this is probably all I can reasonably expect. Ryan, do you mind to give me some time with my daughter alone for a full examination?"

"Of course, Mabel. I need to talk to the mayor anyway about cutting back my work hours for a few weeks, and I can as well do that right now. Please do not hesitate to call my father if you need anything!"

"Sure, I will – talk to you later."

"Bye, Mabel" I addressed Mrs. Everdeen, and 'Bye, my love, see you later!" I told my girlfriend. When I left I could still hear Mrs. Everdeen telling her daughter:

"It is so sweet of him to call you 'my love' even with me being present, isn't it?"

Prim՚s giggling was the last I heard before I had left the house.

_[Author's Note: The book 'The NeverEnding Story' is a translation from the real German book 'Die Unendliche Geschichte' by Michael Ende, and a movie was also done based on it, created by the 'Bavaria Filmstudios' in München, Germany.]_


	20. Chapter 20 - Primrose and Lizzy

**Chapter 20: Primrose and Lizzy**

_[Winter after the 72__nd__ Hunger Games]_

Talking to Mayor Undersee about shorter work hours for a few weeks was easier than I had expected. When I explained my predicament with my injured girlfriend, he told me:

"Don't worry, Ryan. At this time of the year there's not much we can do outdoors anyway, and if you can just spend a few hours here and there in the office with me to help with paperwork, this is good enough. You have done so much already, like with the sports field and the playground this year, that you earn some rest. Take good care of your little girl and let me know if you need anything!"

"Thank you, sir, I will!"

When I was home again, the next challenge waited for me. Prim՚s long hair needed daily attention, and she insisted that I learn how to brush and braid it. Having only brothers at home I lacked experience in doing that, but I had a patient teacher, and apparently I was going to have plenty of time to learn properly.

For the next few days I spent most of my time at home and only a few hours per day working in the Justice Building. On the weekend Lizzy came to the bakery for a visit. First she timidly opened the door to the bakery, not quite sure if she was really allowed in, but my father was there and welcomed her, as I could hear from the back room where I was helping out at that time. I could hear Dad asking her in, and they both came to the back room. I smiled at her:

"Lizzy, it is nice to see you. I will be taking another half hour or so completing what I am doing, I guess. Dad, can you please do me a favor and walk her upstairs?"

"Of course!" Dad replied, and her turned to Lizzy again: "Come on, young lady, I will show you upstairs so you can talk to Prim."

Lizzy giggled a little – I guess that she was rarely called a 'young lady' - and followed my father. I continued to work on the baking, completing the dough for the next batch of bread loafs I had started to prepare, and slightly more than half an hour later I was done and could also go upstairs, to find Lizzy and Prim engaged in very lively conversation. Prim beamed when she saw me, and I excused myself for a moment to go to the bathroom and clean up.

"Rye!" Prim shouted when I was back in the room. "Can you imagine that Lizzy is now helping Mom to do her rounds and treat people? Isn't that just totally great?"

Lizzy added: "Well, I have been interested in healing for some time already, but I thought that I was not good enough to assist Mrs. Everdeen. A few days ago I heard her sighing and telling my mother that the work was getting to much for her, and I just asked if I could help. She asked me a few questions and was happy about my answers, and she has taken me around already, explaining what she is doing and allowing me to assist in simple tasks, like getting something for her. This is great, and I love it!"

"Wow!" I commented on that. "I am glad that Mrs. Everdeen is getting some help, and I am happy for you, Lizzy, that you can do something you like."

"Yes!" she smiled back at me, but than her face turned to a concerned look. "But I miss something. Prim used to help me with homework during study periods at school, and now I am all on my own. I mean, I am certainly not stupid or so, but some of the teachers don't really explain stuff well..."

I nodded: "Yes, I know, and I have been there with Prim, too. Hey, if you want, you could come over like every other day or so and study with Prim. She needs some company anyway, and you could update her on what you have learned. If you have questions, you can also ask me."

Lizzy looked up at me and replied: "Really? I could do that, Mr. Mellark?"

Before I could confirm Prim cut in: "Of course you can, and I'd love it!"

"Sure," I added, "and I have one request, Lizzy: Please call me Ryan or Rye rather than Mr. Mellark."

"Okay, Ryan, great." Lizzy smiled.

"I can give you some girl talk time while I work," I continued, "and when I come back later you can ask if you have any open questions. Want to start Monday afternoon after school? Would you want me to ask your mother if this is okay?"

"Perfect! And yes, I think my mother should be asked, I guess."

"We can do that; I will walk you home tonight and ask her. For now, would you girls like to play something?"

"I cannot really play a lot, I guess." Prim was concerned about her arms.

"Well, what about … a game of pretending – you two are princesses, with Princess Primrose inviting Princess Elisabeth for tea, and I am the loyal servant assisting Princess Primrose, who is not feeling too well today?"

Both girls giggled, and Lizzy asked: "You would really play such a game with us?"

Prim boldly stated: "He will when I tell him to!"

I told Lizzy: "I guess that you will need to step outside for a moment and then knock, like you're just coming for a visit. Can you pretend to behave and talk like a princess?"

Lizzy giggled again and nodded: "I can try at least, I guess."

Lizzy went out and Prim also giggled now: "This will be fun, I guess; shall I call you by a different name? Rye sounds odd for a servant..."

I smiled and told her: "Yes, I guess I go by 'James' for the time being."

At this time there was a knock at the door. I went and opened and said: "Welcome to Evermore Castle, mylady. How can I be of assistance?"

Lizzy did her best to avoid giggling again and said: "Ah, yes, I would like to visit my best friend, Princess Primrose, please."

I nodded and told her: "Sure, mylady. May I have your name please, so that I can properly announce you?"

Lizzy was close to giggling again and replied: "I am Princess Elisabeth!"

"Of course, your highness – why don't you come in and I will ask if Princess Primrose is disposed to receive you."

Turning around I asked in my best formal voice: "Your highness, a Princess Elisabeth has just arrived to visit your grace; will you be able and willing to receive her?"

Primrose smiled and responded: "Of course I will receive her, James. Please guide her into my parlor!"

Lizzy stepped inside at my signal and the two girls pretended to greet each other. A few minutes later Prim looked at me and said:

"James, Princess Elizabeth and I are going to have tea. Off with you to the kitchen, and be back with tea and scones as soon as you can!"

I bowed and responded: "As you wish, your highness!" and hurried downstairs towards our kitchen. Behind me I heard the two girls laughing, and when I met Wheat in the kitchen, he asked what we were doing. I told him about the game of pretending, and he laughed. Then he suggested:

"Do you think that there is a way for me to also be part of your play? Maybe I could be the castle's ghost?"

"What about the court jester?"

"Oh, you hurt me now!"

We both laughed, and I went to prepare two cups of hot chocolate, which I knew the girls would prefer over tea, and two plates with pastries, cheese buns, and cupcakes. Ten minutes later this was done and I carefully carried the tray upstairs. I knocked on the door, and when there was a "Come in!" I entered. Prim looked at me and said:

"James, it's about time! What took you so long? I really may need to think about cutting down your salary!"

Lizzy looked at her, obviously shocked that Prim dared to talk to me like this; she could not know that I probably enjoyed that kind of acting as much as Prim did. We had done a little bit of acting several times on the meadow, trying to do something more funny than the cruel play which we had had to do at school a few years ago.

"I beg your pardon, your highness. I have utterly failed to make the water boil faster on your behalf."

With those words I placed the tray on the table and stepped aside. Prim said:

"Well, I guess I can let it pass this time. James, I am not feeling so well today, and my arms feel kind of weak. Make yourself useful and feed me!"

"Of course, your highness!"

I took a chair close to her, and first held the cup with the hot chocolate close to her lips. With the first sips her attempt to scold vanished, and she could not avoid showing an expression of bliss when tasting one of her favorite drinks.

We continued the 'tea session' for some time until both 'princesses' admitted that they were properly fed and could not eat anything more. When we were done and I had taken the tray down to the kitchen again, Lizzy said:

"Prim, I have to admit that I am quite envious of you. I can't imagine a single one of the boys at school playing like that with us, and your boyfriend even seems to enjoy it!"

I smiled when hearing this and added my own comment: "Well, I might not want to do something like this for anybody else, but I do love to play with my wonderful girlfriend and her guests."

After some more talking it was time for getting Lizzy home. She said good bye to Prim and I walked her home. Both her parents were at home now; her father was a coal miner, like many Seam men, and had just returned from his shift. I explained that Lizzy would like to visit Prim and me at the bakery more frequently for homework and playing, and I confirmed that she was welcome there at any time.

Mrs. Anderson looked and me and replied: "This is a kind offer, Mr. Mellark. Normally I would be careful with my daughter going to a merchant home on a regular basis, but Mabel Everdeen, who is a good friend of mine, told me much about you, so that there should not be a problem."

We did some small talk, and eventually I took my leave and I went home, while the night was descending on the district. At home, it was about time to get my 'princess' to bed, and once we had completed our bathroom chores, I read another chapter of our good night book, and she quickly fell asleep when I was done.

Having Lizzy around two or three times a week worked quite well. She and Prim like to talk to each other, Lizzy told Prim about what happened at school and what they were supposed to learn, and Prim helped Lizzy to get homework done. Sometimes we played a few games, and sometimes we talked about other topics.

One of those days Prim told me when Lizzy was around:

"Rye, do you recall that we started to talk about household chores a long time ago. Can we finally make that list?"

"Oh yes," I replied, "we wanted to make a list of who was going to do what in our future shared household, right?"

"Yes, indeed," Prim nodded, "and as I am supposed to do the diaper changes on our babies, what are you going to do?"

"Hm," I hesitated, "maybe watching and admiring you? Standing at your side and telling you that you're going to do a good job?"

"Not good enough!" Prim objected.

"Okay, okay, what about..." I needed to think, but got a few ideas: "I can do most of the cooking!"

"Yes, that's a good start," Prim nodded, "and what else?"

Lizzy had big eyes now and asked: "Are you two seriously making plans for running your own household and how to take care of a baby?"

"Yes we are," Prim confirmed, "why not start early in getting this organized?"

"This is so unreal;" Lizzy stated, "most kids our age don't even have boyfriends yet and still think that boys are silly, and Prim already plans household chores with her boyfriend..."

"I also think that boys are silly," Prim replied, "and in particular my boyfriend!"

"Hey, what was that for?" I objected.

"I wouldn't want you otherwise, my dear;" Prim explained, while looking at me, "and I would not love you as I do if you were not silly from time to time!"

Okay, I guess I could live with that. Over the next days we got quite a list of things to take care of, including regular chores like doing the laundry and washing the dishes, but also not so regular ones like finding nice presents for friends on their birthday.

At Christmas Prim was much better, but not fully healed yet. Her left arm was good and usable by now again, but the right one, which had been broken, was still splinted and needed another week or so. This was not a problem at all – she was very welcome to spend the holidays with us Mellarks in general and with me in particular. Lizzy had been a frequent visitor in my room, and the two girls nicely studied together. I sometimes explained something which was unclear and provided nourishment when they were hungry and thirsty.

Just before the holidays Lizzy's father had also caught the nasty cold virus, and his wife needed to spend a lot effort taking care of him. I had suggested to them to have Lizzy over with us as well over the holidays, and Mrs. Anderson had told me:

"Mr. Mellark, this is a great idea. It will be sad not to have our daughter at home for Christmas, but my husband is not really doing well, and it would help a lot not to have to take care of our daughter as well. I know that she and Prim are good together, and thank you indeed for your kind offer."

I had informed Mrs. Anderson that I'd pick up Lizzy on the next day. At home, I talked to Prim about where Lizzy would sleep when she'd come tomorrow. I offered my bed with me taking the couch downstairs, but Prim did not like that at all.

"Well, the bed is definitely too small for all three of us!" I stated.

"Yes," Prim admitted, "but don't you have a spare mattress around maybe?"

"Sure, we should have one or two."

"Let's put it in your room, and Lizzy and I can share it, while you stay in your bed. Lizzy and I can have some girl talk together that way."

"But I might be able to hear your 'girl talk'?"

"That's all right – you are allowed to. Besides, I still need your help sometimes when I need to go, you know."

I guess that this was settled.

Next day, December 24th, I picked up Lizzy and her bag of clothes from her home and brought her to the bakery. Dad cordially welcomed her and made sure that she was comfortable, and he lead her into our living room, where our traditional Christmas tree was already decorated. She stood in the door frame and gawked for a while, and I explained:

"Lizzy, this is a tradition in our family. We always have a small fir tree in our living room for a few weeks, we decorate it, and we light a few candles in the room when darkness falls. In the evening, we spend some time being thankful that we have food and a nice house and each other, and we hand over a few presents."

"This is beautiful!" Lizzy blurted out. "We don't do anything on December 24th, and only share a special meal on December 25th, and if we are lucky, we find a few presents in the morning."

"As being Townies, we have a few more options, but we like to share with others." My father explained. "Sharing is not always easy, as some other residents mix up sharing with charity and don't like it."

Looking at Prim, he continued: "Your sister, Prim, is such an example, I think. But that's all right; we do not force anything on her."

Lizzy looked at my father and replied: "In such a nice environment and with such nice people around I do not mind sharing at all!"

It was quite obvious that Lizzy loved to be with us. Of course Wheat did some occasional teasing, like asking her if she had a boyfriend and if she had been kissed yet, but she had not and did not mind replying truthfully. She opened up later in the evening and told us more about the passion she had found when working with Prim in the Everdeen garden and with Prim՚s mother assisting injured or sick people.

"That is the first time in my life so far", she said, "that I have an idea what I might like to do once I am an adult. I know that this is still far off, but I think that I'd like to be a healer, like Prim and her mother. And this is not just because Prim is my best friend."

I nodded and responded: "I can understand this. Sometimes you do something and feel like that's your calling. I had know for quite some time that I want to do work on building something, and I guess they could educate my to be an engineer in the Capitol, if I had a chance to get there. Being here, working for the mayor with what I am currently doing is the next best thing. Peeta is a born baker, and I doubt that he would want to do something else, ever."

Peeta confirmed: "Quite so. I just love baking and decorating, and if I have a chance, I want to continue doing that."

When the girls became tired and we were going upstairs, Prim told Lizzy what we had arranged for sleeping, and I wanted to make sure that this was fine for Lizzy, too:

"Lizzy, would that be all right for you? My room is certainly big enough, but if you feel uncomfortable sharing a room with me as well, please let me know."

Lizzy giggled and informed us: "No, that's all right. Actually, it's going to be fun to hear the two of you talking silly things as well."

"What kind of silly things, Lizzy?" I asked, although I had an idea about what that might be.

"You know, how you like Prim՚s eyes, and Prim saying how much she enjoys your strong arms around her and stuff like that."

Wheat was close enough to understand the last sentence, and when he had heard the statement, he burst out laughing, of course.

When we finally got to bed after doing our chores in the bathroom, with Prim and Lizzy sharing a large mattress in my room while I had my bed for myself, I read another chapter from the book "The NeverEnding Story", which Lizzy also liked a lot. She and Prim listened when I read about the young hero Atreyu searching for a cure for the 'Childlike Empress', riding on the luckdragon Falkor and exploring the fantasy world. When I had ended today's chapter, Lizzy sighed a little bit:

"My parents rarely have time to read a book to me. Dad is always tired from working in the mines, and Mom does some cleaning for other people. Only on Sunday we have some time for ourselves, really."

The full moon was shining into my room this evening, and a few minutes later I decided to pick on what Lizzy had recently mentioned on how Prim and I were sometimes talking:

"Oh, Princess Primrose, I so love to see the moon's golden light shining on your blond hair."

Prim was startled at first but quickly recovered and replied:

"And I, my dear Prince Ryan, love to feel your strong arms around me."

I heard Lizzy giggling and thought about how to continue that:

"And your voice, Princess Primrose, is like a bird's lovely song in my ears."

More giggling from both girls this time. I moved on right away:

"Your skin looks tender and smooth like honey and milk chocolate and provides a great temptation to nibble, lovely Princess Elizabeth."

Both girls were now laughing out loud, and I got more:

"My dear Princess Primrose, your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks and falls along your neck like jewels."

More laughter, and then Prim retorting:

"How handsome you are, my prince; how you delight me!"

Lizzy had now totally lost it and was literally rolling on the floor laughing. I went on nonetheless:

"How beautiful you are, Princess Primrose; how your eyes shine with love!"

Neither Prim nor Lizzy were able to respond as they were both laughing loud, and I joined in, feeling quite happy about having fun with them. Wheat opened the door to find out what the noise was all about:

"Hey, what's going on in here? Have I missed something funny?"

Lizzy recovered for a moment and blurted out:

"Your eyes are as beautiful as doves by a flowing brook..."

"What?" Wheat was obviously not sure if he heard correctly.

"Don't worry, little brother," I tried to explain, "we are just having some fun saying childish things to each other."

"Who is really the little brother here, I sometimes wonder" Wheat replied and left again, shaking his head and chuckling.

In the first weeks of the new year both of Prim՚s arms were both fully healed, and on the last evening we had together I read the last chapter of the book 'The NeverEnding Story' to my girlfriend. We heard about the collapse of the fairy world and could visualize the shy boy from the real world drawn into the story. All he had to do was to give the 'Childlike Empress' a new name and to let his fantasy roam wild to recreate the fairy world.

"Wow" Prim said when I was done reading. "Just imagine that you can let your fantasy run wild to create a new world!"

"Yes, that must be nice, indeed".

"But even without the option to create a world, having a vivid fantasy is nice, isn't it?"

"So, tell me, what do you imagine in your fantasy?"

"Many things! For instance, that I can walk on and on without a fence stopping me. What's in your fantasy? A lot of me, I hope?"

"No, actually not much of you at all."

"Why not? This is disappointing!"

"Now, you see, a Prim in my fantasy could never be better or even come close to the real Prim I have here."

My girlfriend needed a few seconds to grasp the implications and then grabbed me in a very tight hug.

On the next day Prim could finally move home again and also attend school, and Lizzy had already returned home a couple of days earlier, with her father mostly recovered. More than once Prim told me, though, that spending time at my place had been so much more fun than being at home, and I agreed.

"But," I used to tell her, "once we are married, we will have all the time of the world to have even more fun together, and I am quite looking forward to that."

Later on, when spring had started to drive winter back, the blond girl asked while looking at me eagerly:

"Rye, what kind of fun can we have this year for my birthday?"

"Well, we could go to the meadow and I could tickle you until you surrender – that would be a lot of fun!"

She laughed, and I thought about something else:

"I could plant a tree in your garden and build a small playhouse on top of it. Once the three growth, you'd have a tree house to play in."

"You say the funniest things!" Prim laughed again.

"What about that;" I suggested, "if the weather is nice, I could collect a few cookies and hide them around the meadow, and you could spend some time searching for them."

Prim looked up at me: "Hm, that really sounds like fun. Can we do that? And can I bring Lizzy with me, so that I don't have to search alone?"

"Sure, why not," I nodded, "I'd like to have Lizzy around, too. Let's plan this for the first nice weekend after your birthday."

Meanwhile, school was claiming most of Prim՚s time again, and more than once she complained about the amount of homework to do.

"Why is it," she kept asking, "that we need to learn that much, but most of us are going to mine coal anyway? It's not that coal mining requires higher mathematics skills or something. I just don't get it."

"How do you know?" I asked back. "If they find a new coal bed underground, they may want to measure the angle it branches off so that they dig in the proper direction, for instance."

"You think so?" she raised her eyebrows and then nodded. "Yes, maybe so. But I am going to be a healer!"

"Of course you are, my love!" I told her. "But, as I have learned as a phrase in an old book: 'Non scholae sed vitae discimus'."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means: We do not learn for school, but for live. You never know what kind of challenges life may provide for you, and we should be prepared by getting a proper all-round education."

"When you say something like that, you behave like an adult!"

"Well, technically I am an adult, you know. But I get your point; I should not do this too frequently. Behaving like a kid is so much more fun!"

This got my pretty girlfriend smiling again, and I was looking forward to her upcoming birthday.

_[Author's Notes: For the teasing with compliments, I took a few quotes from the 'Song of Songs' in the Bible, I have to admit. I wish I could select three categories for my story, and the third would be 'Humor'. I do hope that at least some of my readers enjoy that – please let me know!_

_Outlook: I am already writing chapters 32/33, and the total number of chapters in this story is likely to be between 40 and 60 – bear with me.]_


	21. Chapter 21 - The 73rd Hunger Games

**Chapter 21: The 73rd Hunger Games**

_[Spring and summer in the year of the 73__rd__ Hunger Games]_

Two weeks later, on Prim՚s 11th birthday, my first action was to look out of my window to check for the weather. A few clouds were visible, but the sun was already peeking through, and it did not look like rain was likely to come down today. On the day before I had wrapped some small cookies in colored tin foil and aluminum foil and I had done some special decorations. I even had managed to bake some small pastries in the shape of animals, like rabbits or sheep, but I had to admit that Peeta had helped. The largest one was a super size pastry goat with a primrose on its back.

When I was done with my preparation and had packed my picnic basket and an additional bag, I took my supplies out to the meadow and got to work. The small wrapped cookies were placed under leaves and flower petals or in the grass, and I took care to find a nice place for all of them. For some of the larger pastries I found some nice hiding spots in low tree branches or bushes, and after a final review I was happy with my work. Happily whistling, I strolled over to the Everdeen house and knocked. Prim had already seen me, and just a couple of seconds later she opened the door and jumped into my arms.

"Good morning and Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl!" I greeted her, and she beamed. After giving me a quick kiss, she yelled: "Let's go over and get Lizzy!"

With her still in my arms we went next door and knocked, and Mrs. Anderson opened the door. She smiled when she saw us together and told us:

"Good morning, you two. Lizzy will be ready in a moment – she has been looking forward to this day for weeks, and I doubt that she slept much last night!"

Lizzy came running down the stairs in their house and looked as happy and excited as Prim. My girlfriend jumped down for my arms and hugged Lizzy, and we were ready to go. Before we went I checked with Lizzy's mother:

"Is it all right to bring Lizzy back around dusk?"

"Are you sure that's not too much trouble for you to have her around for that long?" she was concerned.

"Not at all," I replied, "this is going to be a nice and fun day for all three of us – don't worry."

For the entire time we were walking to the meadow, Prim and Lizzy were babbling and squealing and jumping up and down and around, and I had quite some fun watching them and listening to them. When we arrived, I spread the blanket on the ground and asked the girls if they wanted to have breakfast first or search for the hidden treasures, and they both opted to search first. I leaned against tree and watched them, and I could see their face light up when thy had found another small wrapped cookie. Initially they searched the ground only and thus missed some of the larger parts, and eventually I suggested to look higher up as well. I took them about half an hour to find all of the hidden gifts, and now they were really getting hungry. I had already spread out the food I had brought, and we had breakfast together. Prim was used to my treats, but Lizzy not so much, and her eyes got big when she saw all the food I offered.

After we had eaten, we lied down on the blanket on our backs, and for some time we watched the sky and the white clouds. Prim started to muse:

"Look at this small cloud over there; I think that it looks like a rabbit."

Lizzy picked up: "And this one over there looks like a flower."

I also found one: "And this one, coming up over there, looks like a cookie."

We continued to watch the clouds and have fun with trying to find shapes in them, until the two girls started to yawn. Prim cuddled up to me and rested her head on my chest, and Lizzy cuddled up to Prim՚s other side. Within minutes the two girls had dozed off, and I was left awake to watch them sleep, which I did not mind at all. Butterflies and birds kept me company and entertained me, and an occasional bumble bee showed itself looking for flowers.

Eventually I heard steps coming closer, and I recognized my brother Peeta. I had asked him before to show up and bring his drawing utensils, as I had hoped that me might do some sketches or drawings for Prim. He saw us and smiled, and I put my finger on mouth, asking him to stay silent. He got the point and unpacked his bag, picking a place close to us and starting to do something in a big sketch block.

A couple of hours later both girls woke up from their nap and were happy to see Peeta around. My brother showed them some of the drawings he had done, some with them napping, and some with the trees and flowers around, and they admired his drawing skills. Then we played various games, including myself throwing both girls high into the air and catching them again, some hide and seek, and others.

While Prim and Lizzy were running around chasing each other, I asked Peeta:

"Little brother, what about you and Katniss? Have you made a move yet and talked to her about your feelings?"

"No, I have not." Peeta admitted, looking sad. "Each time I see her at school or when she comes into the bakery for a trade, I lose all of my courage. Everybody knows about her firm conviction to never have a boyfriend and never get married; what kind of a chance do I have?"

Yes, it was sad. I was so lucky to have a loving girlfriend, and Peeta seemed to be in a hopeless situation. Yet I suggested:

"Maybe you could write her a letter telling you about yourself and your feelings?"

"She would be so angry at me!"

"Well, I don't know, but it's certainly your choice. Anytime you want you can talk to Prim about that, and she'd sure be willing to be your ally to at least get closer to Katniss."

"Yes, and then Katniss would blame me for misusing her sister for that purpose; no, thank you."

I really felt sorry for Peeta, but I had to agree that getting closer to Katniss was a difficult task indeed. Meanwhile the two girls were done running around. After we've had our lunch, Peeta went home again, and we spent the afternoon with more games and lots of talking, some of those the silly kind of course, like pretending that Prim and Lizzy were two nice girls collecting berries and I was a bandit trying to kidnap them for my own purposes. While that was a little bit similar to the play at school we had done more than two years ago, it was really funny, and we were both exhausted and totally happy when we finally left the meadow in the evening.

Eventually school closed down for the summer holidays, and this year's Reaping Day was upon us. It was going to be the last year for Prim and Lizzy to be safe, as next year they'd both be 12 and thus eligible. They'd start with one slip each only, but you never knew.

Anyway, we were lucky this year again, as nobody we really knew was reaped, and we were happy when the train with Effie Trinket and the tributes had left. Haymitch Abernathy was on the train as well, of course, as he was the only surviving victor and thus needed to mentor both of the district's tributes. How he managed to do the mentoring properly while almost always being drunk was anybody's guess, though.

At home in the bakery we had a small celebration for Wheat, as this had been the last year he had been eligible for reaping, and he was safe now. One brother to go, though.

Prim and Lizzy now spent a lot of time in the Everdeen garden, mostly working on plants with healing effects, and they alternated doing the rounds with Mrs. Everdeen and getting more training in healing. Sometimes, when I was doing repairs on Seam houses, I could hear people speak with great respect of Mrs. Everdeen and her two capable assistants, and this was good to hear. Now, with the reaping behind us, most citizens focused on work and feeding their families again, using the sunshine for drying their laundry and doing some work in their gardens.

A few days later, though, mandatory game viewing started with the tribute presentations. As always Caesar Flickerman was showing off and tried his best to highlight each tributes special features and, if possible, uncover some secrets, like a boyfriend or girlfriend being left behind. For the start of the games, I went over to the Everdeen home, as I had done in many previous years, and Prim was sitting on my lap, as she also had done for years.

This year's arena turned out to be built like a town, with many buildings around, roads passing along them, open places and lost of spots for hiding. Before the tributes were released, the camera showed some highlights, such as railroad tracks, empty railroad stations, and some underground passages. Except for the Cornucopia, food was probably only available in unattended shops, some of them easily accessible, and some others blocked by locked doors. It looked like the tributes being used to nature rather than urban areas might have a disadvantage. Getting from the tribute elevators to the Cornucopia required usage of empty and wide open streets, but the target held some gleaming weapons and lost of bags and backpacks. A few more backpacks and single items were placed on other streets, mostly in locations not providing any cover.

The environment encouraged Katniss to utter a quick snotty comment: "I am glad not be in an area like this one. No trees, no nature, not much use of sneaking. Just ugly."

The game started, and as every year, the Careers ran towards the Cornucopia. There were some obstacles, though. Next to the Cornucopia, a few vehicles came out of shelters, and they looked like cleaning vehicles or so. While they did not look dangerous, one of the Careers got close to one of them, and some kind of weapon suddenly shot out from the vehicle's side, pushing a spinning blade towards the tribute. The girl was too slow to evade the unexpected attack and was almost cut in half, with blood splashing in all directions. I could feel Prim flinching on my lap and heard her crying; that was certainly not a view for young and sensitive minds.

The other Careers, or at least those who had noticed the incident, got more careful when they noticed what had happened, and they managed to get to the center without further losses. A few other tributes had tried to go the same way, but they were quickly cut down by the Careers who had found weapons. The remaining tributes vanished between the houses, and the cameras had some difficulties keeping track on their locations, as not all of the buildings had been rigged with internal cameras on all floors and in all rooms, obviously. We saw a couple of tributes, both of them from District Five, moving up to the highest floor of one of the tallest houses, and they found some supplies, some of them in a kind of big refrigerator like we used at the bakery. Both of them drank from what looked like cool fruit juices, and a few hours later they could be seen holding their stomachs and being in pain – the juices were apparently poisoned, maybe not lethally, but at least to cause sickness and pain.

Meanwhile, the Careers got themselves organized and sent out foraging parties, searching one building after another, always in pairs at least. This allowed them to gather more supplies and to flush out a few weak and careless tributes. A quick overview completed this day's mandatory viewing session, and we found out that we were somewhat hungry now. Mrs. Everdeen prepared dinner for us, and we tried to talk about various topics in order to not think about the Games too much. Before bedtime came upon us, Prim commented on the high temperatures and said:

"I am not really looking forward to sleeping upstairs in my room. It's getting kind of hot, and I get sweaty all over. We should really sleep outside more at this time of the year, but I'd miss my soft bed, I guess."

I could easily understand her sentiment, and I felt the same. When I walked home later on, I got an idea. In that box of old books and games we had at home, there were also a couple of books on vacation topics, and I recalled that there was a chapter on something which was called 'camping'. As soon as I got home, I picked up that book and started to browse it when I was in my bed. Of course, they started like going into shops and getting all of the equipment, but basically all you needed was some kind of cover, something soft to sleep on, and a few blankets – how hard could that be?

As I didn't have to work during the Games, I checked spare supplies in our shed and found a few wooden poles and a tarp which should be big enough. I dragged that and a few tools over to the Everdeen home and talked to Mrs. Everdeen:

"Good morning Mabel, I guess that Prim is still asleep?"

"Good morning to you, too, and yes, she is. Would you want to go up and kiss her awake?"

I smiled and replied: "No, thank you, not today, as tempting as it is. Actually, I would like to talk to you for a moment."

"Really? What is it?"

"I heard Prim saying yesterday that it would be nice to sleep outside when it is so hot, and I kind of agree. I would like to rig some outdoor sleeping area in your garden, if you agree?"

"You would, really? Sure, feel free to do that – this is a good idea."

With her permission I dragged my stuff to the garden and first identified a small area which was pretty much even and only had grass growing on it. I pounded the poles into the ground to encompass an area of about three meters by three meters and made sure that they were all tight enough. Not without some effort I managed to lift the tarp on the poles, pull it tight and fix it to each pole, so that a kind of roof was formed. Just when I was done with that, Prim came running and jumping out of the house and stopped close to me, asking:

"Rye, what are you doing?"

"Good morning, Prim, I am building something."

"Okay, I think that I can see that. Would you want to tell me what this is going to be?"

"No, I don't want to tell you."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't; do you have a problem with that? Oh, by the way, mandatory viewing is going to start soon, so let's go inside."

I enjoyed looking at her face, which reflected confusion and a little annoyance; my girlfriend was not used to me refusing an explanation, but she let it go for now, and we went inside to start today's session.

Today's Games viewing did not have many surprises. The Careers flushed out a few more of the other tributes, and another one died by one of the cleaning vehicles on the streets. As it was only day two, nobody had died yet from hunger or thirst, and the viewing session was not very long on this day.

Right after the session I went out again and got a scythe from the Everdeen tool shed. I cut down some grass and piled the cut grass under the tarp, so that a soft bedding grew there. Prim was going on a round with her mother and could thus not watch, so that I did not have to evade further explanations.

On the next day, I came early again with some blankets, wooden boards, and other stuff, and I tried my best to create something similar to a large bed. I found that it worked quite well, and the smell of the fresh grass was nice. I attached some star like decorations on the underside of the tarp and place some shelf like construction close to one side, to hold some water bottles and such, and I was done. Right in time, as it turned out, because Prim was awake now and coming out. When she saw what I had built, he jaw dropped down and she was speechless for a minute or two, before she asked:

"Rye, did you really build some outdoor bed for me?"

"No, not quite," I replied, "I did not make it for you, but for us, if you like it to be that way, that is."

Prim jumped up and down excitedly before hopping into my arms and squealing with excitement. I guess that she liked it, and when she jumped down again, she ran to the 'tent' and stretched her body flat on the blanket.

"This smell is great!" she shouted and she asked: "When can we use it?"

"Tonight, if you want" I happily answered.

For this day's viewing Prim was quite antsy all of the time, and even a few more bloody killings could not make her sad as those events usually did. Even before dusk, right after supper, Prim got into her nightgown, brushed her teeth and rushed outside to lie down under the tarp, squealing happily. I went over and teased her:

"I am glad that you like it; sleep well, and I will see you tomorrow."

Once I had said this, I turned around and pretended to leave, but Prim jumped up and grabbed my hand:

"Oh no, you don't. You can do better than this!"

"I can?"

"Of course you can. Don't think that I have not seen your bag with clothes and stuff inside; you are staying here with me!"

"But my bed at home is more comfortable than this!"

"Does your bed at home have somebody in it scratching your back?"

"Hm, I guess not, now that you mention it. Maybe I should indeed stay."

Of course I had asked Mrs. Everdeen before about spending a few nights out here with Prim, and she did not mind. After all, we were just outside of her bedroom window, and I had spent many nights with Prim alone before. I went inside to do my bathroom chores, and ten minutes later I joined Prim in the outdoor bed. The size of this bed was more than plenty for both of us, and the thick grass padding turned out to be reasonably comfortable. The sun was about to go down behind the next house, and the last golden-red glows touched the tree tops and clouds, creating a beautiful atmosphere and mood. We watched that for some time, and then Prim cuddled up to me, with her head on my shoulder and one arm around my chest. I spread our second blanket on top of us, and my girlfriend started to purr from happiness. Some back scratching followed as promised, and eventually we got to sleep in each other's arms.

Mrs. Everdeen՚s voice woke us up on the next morning, and we found ourselves still entangled. Prim՚s mother smiled and bade us good morning, and she told us that breakfast was about ready. When we got up, Prim told me:

"I had a real great sleep and no bad dreams at all. Can we sleep here again next night?"

"Sure we can, and my sleep was very good, too. Of course, I can't really tell if it was more the outdoor sleeping or the person who was cuddling up to me."

"Maybe both?" Prim suggested.

"Maybe, yes," I smiled "and I am thinking that you might want to ask Lizzy if she would like to join us for a night or two, if she wants and her parents allow. The place is big enough, and she could sleep on your other side."

Prim beamed: "This is an excellent idea! I will ask her later on for sure."

Of course the Games also continued on that day, and we had to gather for another mandatory viewing after breakfast. It turned out that the cameras had trouble to show each kill in detail; most of the kills were done in close quarters within the buildings, and the cameras were not plentiful enough to get all of that from close distance. Quite a few times a canon shot went off, as the game makers could tell a tribute's death from the implanted tracker, but the close up later on only showed the corpse, so that it was sometimes unclear who had done the kill.

From a watcher's point if view this was welcome, as less blood and violence was shown, but I had a felling this was not intended, and I wondered if the game makers were about to do something about it. Anyhow, for this day at least, Prim was not getting too worried and did not have to cry, which was good. Once the viewing was done for the day, we went out again, and Lizzy came over. Prim proudly pulled her over to what I had built and told her:

"Lizzy, come here; can you imagine that my boyfriend built that for me? We already slept here together last night, and it was so much more comfortable than sleeping inside when it is is hot, even during the night. And guess what: Rye suggested that you could also sleep with us, if you want. What do you say? You want, don't you?"

Prim shot out those sentences in a rapid way, so that Lizzy was a little dazzled at first, and she did not quite know how to answer. I cut in:

"Lizzy, maybe you would like to get your mother here as well and ask here, if she agrees for you to sleep here for a few nights?"

The young girl nodded and went to get her mother, and as they lived right next door, she was back with her mother a couple of minutes later. Mrs. Anderson looked at my construction, and I explained what it was for. She looked at us and finally replied:

"I do not see a problem with that. Mabel, what do you think? Can you have Lizzy also in your garden for a few nights? It is safe out here, right?"

Mrs. Everdeen smiled and responded: "Well, reasonably safe. Of course, there is this ferocious cat going around, hunting for prey, and you might want to be careful..."

"Mom!" Prim shouted. "Buttercup is not ferocious, at least not for us. Maybe for mice, but that's a good thing."

After some more discussion we were all in agreement, and Lizzy was officially invited to share the bed with us. Prim was totally happy with that and went into her jumping and babbling mode, which made we smile a lot. Both girls were eager to start the sleepover, and they were getting ready for bed right after supper. Mrs. Everdeen smiled at me:

"You know, on normal days, when I tell the kids to go to bed, the usual answer is something like 'I am not tired yet – ten more minutes, please?'. And now, Prim goes by herself hours before she needs to. Maybe I should keep this outdoor bed."

"Maybe you should, but it is probably not so attractive in winter, I should guess."

Mrs. Everdeen and I kept talking until after dusk, and when I decided to go to bed as well, darkness had fully descended on the district. Once I had done my bathroom chores and changed into my nightwear, I decided to play a prank on the girls. I carefully approached from a corner of the garden, crouched down, and started to growl like a bear. The girls had been talking, but when they heard the growl, they stopped immediately, and one of them asked:

"Is somebody there?"

I growled again, a little bit louder this time, and I heard Lizzy saying:

"Prim, this sounds like an animal!"

And Prim replied: "Yes, I heard it, and can you see that shadow over there?"

I took the opportunity to raise my body for a few seconds and get down on all fours again, and growled again.

Prim now said with some agitation in her voice:

"This almost looks like a bear! How did a bear get through the fence? What do we do? Why isn't Rye here yet?"

I growled again and said: "This is the big bad bear, out to catch children unaware. I am hungry, and I need to feed!"

I rightly assumed that the two girls would not immediately make the connection that a real bear could not talk, and indeed I heard Lizzy saying:

"Dear Mr. Bear, please spare us; we are just two poor girls..."

I growled again, and suddenly Prim yelped: "Wait a second – animals cannot talk! Rye, is that you?"

Now I laughed and dropped down into the grass, quite happy with my performance. The two girls realized that they had been had, and they started laughing as well. It took us some time to calm down again, and it was probably almost midnight before we fell asleep, but we had had a lot of fun.

The next few days brought more Games viewing, of course, and the number of tributes being alive had been cut down to eight, so that the usual tribute interviews in the districts were started. Our own two tributes had already perished earlier, and the situation was getting more interesting for the remaining ones. As I had suspected, they now introduced something like giant spiders lurking in some houses, so that what used to be safe places suddenly wasn't any longer. The spiders were not very fast and could easily be evaded outside, but they caught a few unaware tributes in the buildings, so that the number was reduced to five at the end of the day.

On the next day, the three last Careers obviously decided to end their alliance, as they all went in different directions. They were all exhausted from paying attention all of the time, and one of them was caught by a cleaning vehicle, and another one by a spider. The last Career tribute, though, was a tough boy from District Two, and he managed to not only stay alive, but also kill another tribute on that day.

Finally, when the next day started, the last Career also flushed out his last competitor and was soon declared victorious, with only a few minor scratches. The Games were over, and we only had to watch the final victor interview, which was at least not violent and bloody.

_[Author's Notes: Only one year remaining until the 74__th__ Hunger Games! I would love to see a few reviews, please!]_


	22. Chapter 22 - The school playground

**Chapter 22: The school playground**

_[Summer in the year of the 73__rd__ Hunger Games]_

Once the Games were over, Prim and Lizzy were much more relaxed again, and we continued to sleep in the outdoor bed for some time occasionally. A couple of times there was some rain in the night, but the tarp I had rigged was tilted to one side, and so the water could drop down to the ground there; our 'bed' stayed dry.

During one night, though, there was a thunderstorm; we had not seen it coming in the evening, but I liked that. Watching the forces of nature was impressive, and seeing the lightning from our outdoor bed was a great show, well, for me at least. The two girls, though, were not quite that happy, and they showed a more timid behavior. When the thunderstorm was right over us and the thunder could be heard only a second or two after the lightning had flashed, I suddenly found myself with two frightened girls in my arms; they were hiding their heads on both sides of my neck, buried into my shoulders, and each of them had one arm around my chest. Eventually the thunderstorm moved on, but the girls stayed, and when I later tried to find out if they were okay again, I noticed that both of them were now asleep; apparently they had both been able to find comfort in my arms. Well, this was not exactly something I had a problem with, so that I tried to sleep as well.

Obviously sleeping worked well for all three of us, and I woke up seeing the first hints of daylight coming up. I noticed somebody coming out of the house and saw Katniss in her hunting gear; she quickly looked in our direction, saw both girls in my arms, shook her head, and moved on. A smaller shape was visible at the other end of the garden, and when more light came up, I recognized Buttercup crouching and looking for mice.

I enjoyed being here like this. The scenery was so peaceful, with birds singing, no human voices, daylight coming up and starting to illuminate some small clouds, and two pretty girls sleeping and breathing in my arms. For a moment I thought life could not get much better than that and wished that time could be frozen. I probably dozed off again while enjoying the situation, and I woke up again from the sound of a window being opened in the house. Mrs. Everdeen looked out and when she saw me awake, she waved; I just nodded and smiled, as I did not have an arm free to wave back. A few minutes later she came out and asked in a low voice:

"When I saw and heard the thunderstorm last night, I was getting a little bit worried. I was not sure if your tarp was fully waterproof, and I also happen to know that both Prim and Lizzy are easily frightened by lightning and thunder. But it appears that they found somebody to comfort them."

I smiled back at her and confirmed: "Yes, indeed, they did. It looks like they are both still asleep."

Now, with the Games being over, I had to work again, but once or twice a week we spent the night outside. Prim told me that she was sometimes walking around with Peeta during the day, helping him to find proper motives for painting and showing him the most colorful flowers. Sometimes I also found her in the bakery assisting Peeta, Wheat, or my father, and I loved to see her integrated so nicely.

Similar to the last years, the mayor wanted me to pay special attention to the school building and grounds during the summer holidays. Marc and I started to make some improvements to the sports area, and we also beautified the outdoor area where the kids could spend their break times. Prim was sometimes watching and assisting, and on one day she said:

"You know, it would be really nice if one could play during breaks, not just walk around."

"What kind of play do you have in mind?"

"I saw something in one of your old books, with a small board connected to long ropes, so that once can sit on it and swing. I think that they just called it a swing."

"Hm, do you recall if there was an illustration in that book?"

"Yes, I think that there is one – I can show you tonight!"

After supper at the bakery Prim got the book she had been talking about and opened the page about the swing. The book not only had a description and illustration on that, but also a few other things, like a wooden playhouse, a climbing castle, and more.

On the next day I took the book and asked the mayor:

"My girlfriend believes that it would be nice for the kids at school to have some options to play during their breaks. We found this old book with some illustrations, and I wonder if this is something we could try to build, with spare material of course."

"Hm, you have got a point there" Mayor Undersee commented on my suggestion. "Don't spend too much effort on it, please, but you have my permission to improvise something."

I shared the news with Marc Pherson, who was working with me a part time help, and we looked around on the school grounds. The school had been built a long time ago, and the founders had planted a number of trees around it. Most of those trees had grown over time, and some had developed into some sturdy giants by now. A couple of big oak trees were reasonably close together in one corner, and two massive branches, one from each tree, got quite close to each other, about three or four meters above ground.

Marc saw me looking at the branches and asked: "What are you thinking about?"

"Look at those sturdy branches!" I replied. "We could get a long pole up and tie it to both branches to get a horizontal bar. Ropes attached to that bar can be used for swings, and if the pole is long enough, we can have three or four swings side by side."

"You think that swings are fun for the kids?"

"Quite sure of it, actually; just wait and see."

We were able to locate a very long wooden pole and, with Gale also helping, managed to get it up into the trees and move it to the spot where I wanted to have it. Once it was properly tied down and bound to the branches, I got a number of long ropes and had them hang down from the pole in pairs, with some distance in between. Getting a board attached to sit on was a challenging tasks, as we did not want the board to tilt and shift, but eventually we managed to do that as well.

"Next task is to find out how high the boards should be from the ground. I should guess that smaller kids need it lower and older kids need it higher."

Gale and Marc nodded, and the older boy asked: "Sure, but which height exactly?"

I pondered that and then told them: "I know; we just need kids to test. Gale, why don't you bring your two brothers along tomorrow, and they can help us testing. Posy is too young and small for the big swings, I guess, but I can also get Prim, who is about between your brothers in height."

Gale smiled and responded: "Yes, that should work. Rory and Vick should have some fun helping us like that."

One day later we had company, with Prim, Rory, and Vick eagerly waiting to 'assist'. We showed them around, and soon all three of them took a seat on one of the boards and got busy. It turned out that using a swing was not as easy as it looked like. Fortunately, Prim had read the text in the old book and had at least a vague idea on how to move her body back and forth to get going. The three kids spent almost the entire morning learning how to swing and experimenting with different heights. When I walked over to where Prim was swinging quite high and wanted to call the kids to lunch, Prim was overdoing it and lost contact with the board; her hands slipped from the ropes, and she went flying into the air. I heard a quick yelp from her, and she was coming down in my direction. Fortunately I was almost exactly at the right position to catch her, but she came down with force enough to bring me down to the ground as well. My girlfriend landed right on top of me and drove the air from my lungs for a moment.

When she had recovered from her shock, she looked rather pale and flustered, and I quickly asked her if she was hurt. Her face was very close to mine, and her response was a little slow:

"No, I do not think so. I am so sorry; I did not mean to drop myself on you like that, I just lost control, and I am so glad that you got me."

Gale looked at us and smirked: "Ryan, you are really a lucky guy to have your girlfriend literally drop on you like there's no tomorrow. Hey, I wish I had a girlfriend being that forward with her affections!"

I chuckled, and Prim realized that she was still on top of me and got up now. I noted:

"Note taken – we have to prepare a soft ground under the swings, so that if somebody falls down, there's less of a risk of injury."

"We could use some sand," Marc suggested, "as we seem to have plenty of that."

"Yes, good idea," I agreed, "let's work on that next, after lunch."

I had lunch ready for all of us, and we spent the afternoon with some more fine-tuning, until we could fix the ropes properly. We also started to remove the top layer of soil under the swings to prepare for getting sand there, which we would do tomorrow.

The three children were happy to hear that the swings would remain to be used during school breaks and that we eventually might get a chance to rig some other fun stuff.

A few days later I had an afternoon off, and I invited Prim for a few hours to our meadow. I had another picnic prepared, and we indulged into the food before relaxing and talking. When we had made ourselves comfortable, we first talked about various topics like the weather, the new swings at school, and some of Prim՚s friends, and eventually Prim came up with something else:

"Rye, I need you to help me understand something, please."

"Of course, what is it, dear?"

"A few days ago, when I dropped on you from the swing by accident, and when I landed right on top of you, our chests were pressed together quite tightly. At first I thought that it might hurt both of us, but then I noticed your face very close to mine, and I got that sudden urge to kiss you. There was also an odd feeling in or around my stomach, like a tickle or some buzzing or so."

I had a feeling where this might go, but decided to let her finish first.

"At that time I was too surprised to react, but I asked Mom later on if she knew what that kind of feeling is. She smiled very widely at me and did not explain; she rather suggested I might to talk to you about it. Do you know what this is? Am I getting sick?"

I smiled at her and replied: "I think I know, yes, but first, can you please tell me if that feeling was more pleasant or more not so nice?"

Prim smiled back and responded: "It was a wonderful and amazing feeling, actually. I would like to feel it again if I can, but I do not know how!"

"Hm," I told her, "Why don't we find out first if we can make you feel like that again."

"How?"

"Well, let's do like we did a few days ago. Not the drop, I mean, but the resulting position. Maybe you would want to sit on my lap, wrap your legs around my waist and your arms around my neck."

"Okay" my girlfriend replied and did as I suggested. When she was properly seated, I carefully pulled her chest against mine with one hand and used the other hand to get her head close enough to mine so that I could start a kiss. I tried to make it a very tender one, nibbling on her upper lip a bit and just going slowly. Right away I could hear some moaning and purring, and she started to press and push against me as well. Suddenly she got startled and moved back, looking confused and surprised, and she told me excitedly:

"You did it! That feeling was there again! What is it, and why can you make it appear?"

"Well, Prim, it is not really a sickness at all, but it is an expression of love. Some people, when they are deeply in love with another person, feel what is commonly called 'butterflies in one's stomach' when they are close to the loved one. I know this very well, because I have felt like that when I am with you for a long time already, and I will probably never get tired of feeling it."

"Yes, 'butterflies in the stomach' is a good way to describe it. And you really feel that as well? For me?"

"Of course, my love, and I am happy to hear that you are feeling that, too."

"But why haven't I felt like that before?"

"I am not fully sure, and your Mom would know better, but I believe that this feeling is something children do not normally experience. It is probably an early sign that you are about to start the transition from girl to woman."

"I am? Really? I am not sure I want to do this; I feel quite happy as a girl as it is!"

I laughed, knowing that she was not quite serious about that. Of course, herself being a healer's daughter, she probably knew better than me about the biological changes when a girl started to grow into a woman. Apparently, though, some of the feelings had been left out by her mother.

A couple of days later I was called into the mayor's office. Mr. Peters, the coal mining operations supervisor, was with him, and after we greeted each other, Mayor Undersee started:

"Mellark, in the last few months there have been discrepancies between the amount of coal we get out of the mines and the amount which arrives in the Capitol and in District Five. They urgently request that I find out why that is, and I do not know where to look. Would you have an idea?

"No, not right now," I had to admit, "but let's review the situation step by step. First, where is the coal counted or weighed when it is getting out of the mines?"

"I do not know." The mayor clearly was not involved in the details. "Mr. Peters, can you elaborate please?"

Mr. Peters responded: "Of course, sir. The coal is weighed right when coming out of the mine shaft, and it is weighed a second time when loaded onto the trains. So far, those two numbers have always matched."

The mayor was confused: "But when the numbers are right when the coal is loaded onto the trains, where does something get lost?"

I had an idea: "How are the coal cars locked? Are they sealed?"

Mr. Peters shook his head: "No, there are only very simple locks. In theory, somebody could break in either in the night before the train leaves or maybe even in transit, like at slow orders. We have a number of track sections very close to our district which are in urgent need of repairs, and the trains need to go very slow when passing them."

"But," I cut in, "I think that we are not allowed to patrol outside of the district, right?"

"No, we are not," Mayor Undersee confirmed, "but if we have a justified suspicion, I can ask for permission to send a peacekeeper detachment along the tracks. For now, we have identified two possible ways for coal to get 'lost'; as the first one is easier to do, let's just guard the train when the next delivery is due, and maybe re-check just before the train leaves."

The guarding was supposed to be done by peacekeepers, of course, and I was not directly involved. However, I supervised the coal weighing procedure together with Mr. Peters, just to make sure that this was done properly. At the mine exit, they sorted the coal into high quality, to be transported off via train, and low quality, which the miners were free to take home for heating their homes and for cooking. The low quality coal was still good enough for us here, but the power plants in the Capitol and specifically in District Five needed the best quality. The poor quality coal was not always enough, though, but miners were not allowed to get more. Of course, one could also get wood, although most of the supply was outside of the fence and thus not legally accessible.

The mayor gave orders to closely guard the next three coal trains and find out if the problems continued. If they did, he planned to contact the Capitol and ask for permission to send a patrol out, along the tracks.

Meanwhile, school summer holidays continued. Prim and Lizzy spent a lot of time in their garden, and Mrs. Everdeen was happy top see that her supply of healing herbs was growing. I got busy again on the school grounds, and Marc and I started to build some kind of climbing frame. We used all kind of different material, mostly wood, but also some metal, and we started from a big base to allow many children to use it at the same time. Building that was kind of fun, and sometimes we had Gale bring his brothers to find out if we built it properly. Like I had seen in the old book, I wanted to have a slide or two attached to the frame, but we did not know how to construct that. A wooden slide seemed to be not good, as it was not smooth enough; but maybe if we polished it right? Metal would be best, but I did not think that we were able to get properly bent metal from another district.

Prim also came over occasionally and provided her input, and when we had time to enjoy a break together, she sometimes climbed on my lap and asked me:

"Let me feel the butterflies again, please?"

I was more than happy to oblige, and neither Prim nor I cared if we were alone or not; Marc and Gale both chuckled when we sometimes completely forgot time about that. We were not really heavily making out or something, but we were just totally happy when Prim was in my lap, we had our arms wrapped around each other, her head was buried in my shirt or close to my neck, and we felt and cherished each other and got lost in our thoughts and in our love.

A few days later a big old tree had to be brought down on the school grounds. It was getting old and in parts rotten, and there was an increasing risk of having it come down on the school building in a storm. We did not really have proper equipment for felling trees, but we managed to make do with what we had. There were no professional lumberjacks around like they had in District Seven, and we had to work together for a few days to finally cut the tree down. The tree trunk was massive and partially curved. The wood, as it was partially rotten, was not suitable for construction purposes, but I wondered if we could make slides from it.

Once I had discussed the idea with my coworkers, we first split a section of the curved trunk, about six or seven meters long, in half lengthwise, which was tedious work. Once we had the two halves, we started to make them hollow by first cutting larger parts out with axes, and later on have fire do our work for us. This was also documented in an old survival book, actually for improvising some kind of small boat from a tree trunk. We allowed the fire to burn the trunk parts into hollow shells, fueling it where needed and stopping it with water where it had done its job. Weeks later, just before the new school year started again, we had two curved half tubes, and they seemed to be sturdy enough to be used as slides. Of course, more work needed to be done, like polishing the interior so that it was smooth enough for sliding. The slides would not be ready for use yet for some time, but the climbing frame was done at least.

Prim was now in sixth grade, and she was best in class, according to what she happily told me, and I was quite proud to have such a smart girlfriend. I had also been quite good at school, but never in the very top group. I had always been a person for more practical work, and mere theory lesson about history and such did not appeal to me.

Prim՚s best friend Lizzy was among the top five at least, too. Both girls were sometimes called 'teacher's pet' or even 'nerd', but they were both popular and liked by almost everybody. Both girls, despite being very different in how they looked like – with Lizzy being tall for her age, bronze skin, grey eyes, and athletic, already showing some modest curves, and Prim petite, blond, blue eyed, and a slim tomboy body with no curves at all yet – always showed a friendly attitude, and they never tried to show off. Prim sometimes offered to sit together with other students to help them improve their understanding of specific topics, if they wanted. Rory Hawthorne came over a few times, and when he and Lizzy had been studying with Prim a few times, they found out that they got along quite nicely with each other. Soon we found Rory studying with just Lizzy in either of their homes, and this seemed to work very well for them.

Sixth grade also brought an increase in homework, and Prim told me that some other students groaned, as they needed to spend so much time on it. Most children needed to help their parents with chores at home; having the adult males spending so much time in the mines, many women were overloaded with work, taking care of household and raising children and maintaining their homes all together. I noticed once more that my own work was really great; my work hours were less than what the miners had to do, I got a higher salary, and I liked most of it. Viewed from that point of view, it was kind of unfair – why were miners getting less salary for harder work?

_[Author's Notes: Valuable jobs and hard work gaining too small salaries is an issue not limited to Panem, of course, but sadly seems to happen almost everywhere in the world]._


	23. Chapter 23 - A special birthday present

**Chapter 23: A very special birthday present**

_[Autumn in the year of the 73__rd__ Hunger Games]_

The last days of summer were gone and autumn settled in. Those citizens having a garden harvested what they could to add to their nourishment, and Prim was also tending the herbs and plants in the Everdeen garden a lot. Getting that garden extended had paid off, and Prim proudly told me that she and her mother could brew a lot more potions to help sick people with all of the ingredients they now had access to. Without Lizzy's help, though, they would not have managed to cope with that, and Lizzy had developed into some kind of assistant apothecary, being already able to brew and mix a large variety of potions fully on her own.

The nights were too cold now to sleep outside, but Lizzy enjoyed spending time with both me and Prim above and beyond work and school hours. She claimed that we always provided lots of opportunities for laughing and having fun, and the neighbor girl flourished in our company; very rarely did we see her sad any longer when remembering her older sister who had died in the arena a few years ago. Her mother did not mind her being with us so much; since I had had them both over for a few days and nights almost a year ago and we had also spent many nights together on the meadow and in the Everdeen garden, I had assumed some kind of big brother role for Lizzy, and Mrs. Anderson fully trusted me with her.

Prim was already planing ahead for my birthday, and she mentioned to Lizzy and me:

"Do you recall how much fun we had last year in your room, Rye, when we pretended to be princesses and you were my servant?"

I chuckled and told her that I did remember, indeed.

"Do you think that we can do something like that again?" Prim continued.

"I am sure that we can," I nodded, "and maybe we can even do a game like this here in the garden."

"Like what?" Lizzy asked.

"Hm," I started to think, "what about that: One of you is a poor girl working hard in the garden, and the other one is the princess owning the garden and treating the other girl like a slave. Eventually I come in, and I am the king who disapproves of the princess' behavior; she is punished and looked in a dungeon."

"Where do we have a dungeon?" Prim asked.

"We can use the small tool shed over there" I suggested.

"Okay, and who is the poor gardening girl and who is the princess?" Lizzy asked.

"Well, you are much taller and stronger than me, Lizzy," Prim meant, "so that you should be the slave driver princess, I guess."

"Okay, let's do it, girls" I encouraged them.

Prim ran up to her room and changed into the oldest and most ragged clothes she had, while Lizzy went back to her home to find a nice dress and some decorations to use as fake jewelry. I also changed some of my outfit to the extent possible on short notice.

Prim was back first and crouched down to work. A few minutes later Lizzy came, dressed like royalty, and started to lash out verbally: "You there, work faster – this is not good enough!"

Prim pretended to be almost in tears and stated: "But I am already working as fast as I can!"

"Not good enough!" the fake princess retorted. "If you cannot do better, I will cut your rations!"

"But I am close to starving!" the poor girl sobbed.

"That's your fault for not working fast enough!" the fake princess told her.

"Can I have a break at least, please?"

"No way – work faster or I will throw you in the dungeon!"

"No, please, not the dungeon!"

Both Mrs. Everdeen and Mrs. Anderson, Lizzy's mother, had heard the shouting and were now looking out of their windows to see what we were doing. I chose this moment to step in and calmly asked my fake daughter:

"What seems to be the matter here, Princess?"

Lizzy snorted and told me: "The gardening slave is not working fast enough!"

"Princess Elisabeth," I started to educate her, "we do not have any slaves. Those working for us are human beings as ourselves, and it does not befit us to look down on them and treat them poorly."

"But she's just a slave girl, and she needs to work harder – I am the Princess, and I can give orders like that, can't I?"

"Giving orders implies to know about the consequences and implications, and in general a willingness to do yourself what you order. You show none of that, so that I will need to educate you by locking you in the dungeon for a night."

"What?" Lizzy shouted.

Ignoring her for a moment I addressed Prim: "And you, my hard working gardener, can take a break now. Please feel free to go into the royal kitchen and get yourself something to eat and drink."

"Thank you, your majesty!" Prim bowed and went off.

I dragged a struggling Lizzy to the tool shed, pushed her in, and locked the door behind her. Silence was all around us for some time, and then we had some rumbling and a question: "When do I get out again?"

"Didn't I tell you that you'd have to spend the night in there, to atone for your behavior?"

Silence again, and Prim came back. A few minutes later:

"Seriously, the whole night? I need to pee!"

I searched around, found a bucket, unlocked the door, opened it, pushed the bucket in, and closed and locked the door again, without saying anything. Prim looked at me and barely managed not to laugh.

Again a few minutes later the muffled voice from within the shed told us: "A bucket? You really expect me to use that? Is this still about pretending or a play?"

Prim could not keep calm any longer and burst out laughing, and I did the same. Lizzy must have heard us from inside and yelped. I decided to end the suspense and locked and opened the door again. Lizzy rushed out, quickly told us "I really need to pee now!" and was gone towards her home.

Both mothers, who had been watching all of the time, now started to applaud and laugh, and I saw Mabel shaking her head, probably wondering about my age once again.

On the next day I was called into another conference with Mayor Undersee and Mr. Peters, the mining operations supervisor. This time also Cray, the Head Peacekeeper, was with us. I was informed that guarding the coal mines during the last weeks had not produced any results, and that the Capitol still reported coal missing, with an increasing amount now. They had already authorized Mayor Undersee and Head Peacekeeper Cray to send a patrol outside of the district. Cray intended to lead the patrol, and I was asked to participate, representing the mayor. Besides the two of us only Darius, a young peacekeeper, was going to be with us; for a first scouting mission we wanted to be a small group only. We were supposed to use an ATV and drive on a path parallel to the train tracks; as the trains were something the mayor called a 'maglev', we could not go on the tracks themselves. The last train had left earlier today and the next train was expected in a week, so that we had a few days for our recon mission. Start was planned for tomorrow early morning, and we might be off for a few days and nights.

I told Prim and my family in the evening that I would be off for a few days. I could not tell them any details, but just mentioned that I had to do some work with the mayor which was going to keep me busy and stay in the Justice Building overnight.

Very early in the next morning I reported to Cray, carrying a large duffle bag with some clothes. Darius was already there, and we mounted a large ATV with a roof rack for extra supplies, spare tires, and tools. Cray had a key for the large gate close to the station, so that we could leave the district and drive on the unpaved road along the tracks. Well, tracks probably wasn't the proper term, as it was more some king of monorail on poles, but anyway.

The two peacekeepers were on the front seats and I had the back row for myself. Looking back through the rear window, I saw the district vanishing behind me; this was an odd feeling, as I had never left the district before, except for one or two quick trips with Katniss and Prim to collect some berries. I was seated behind Darius, who was driving, and Cray asked me to look out of the left window while he was doing the same on the right side. We were supposed to look out for anything unusual, not knowing yet exactly what that could be.

After a few kilometers I called out: "Look, there is something which looks like a trail!"

Darius hit the brakes and reversed to the spot I had seen, and we got out. Cray looked at what I had seen, examined the trail and stated: "True, it is a trail, but it is made by animals. Not footprints or such. But nice spotting. Let's move on."

Another few kilometers later Cray spotted something on his side and we got out again. There were a few black splotches on the ground not far from the road, and it looked like there might have been a campfire a long time ago, but we could not locate other indications.

After some more stops without finding clear evidence, we stopped for lunch and made a small campfire of our own. When I wandered off a little to relieve myself, I noticed more of those black splotches, and they seemed to increase in density west of us, leading deeper into the forest. I alerted the two peacekeepers to my finding when I got back, and they went with me right away. While the most black spots lead into the forest, we approached the monorail first, and Darius found a series of black marks along the rail line. I suggested:

"This looks like somebody dropped something from a train, doesn't it?"

"Boy, you may be right about that!" Cray confirmed my suspicion. "Look, the monorails are damaged here, and this looks like a slow order to all trains. When the train is going slow, somebody could indeed throw cargo down." Normally I'd mind being called a 'boy', but coming from an old and respected peacekeeper, it was all right, I thought. Even if it wasn't, I surely wouldn't want to antagonize him and complain about his choice of words. Cray had a digital camera with him and took lots of pictures, and then we followed the trail and the spots in the other direction. After about a kilometer we found a small clearing in the forest, and there were remnants of some kind of rough camp. Based on what we saw Darius speculated:

"Hm, I guess that one or two people on the train took advantage of the slow order and dropped cargo to the ground. People on the ground picked it up and carried it here, and finally another group of people took baskets or backpacks to carry it off. But where to?"

"I bet that we will get back to the district's fence if we follow that trail. I'd assume that they got the stolen coal to the Hob as black market ware. We should burn the Hob down!"

Darius objected: "Boss, you may want to reconsider. While the Hob certainly is suspected to trade with some stolen goods, it is the sole available store for some of the poor Seam residents, as they can trade there rather than pay with money. If we took that away, more of the coal miners would get sick and die from impoverishment."

Cray got suspicious and asked: "And how do you know all of that?"

I cut in: "Sir, he is right about that. I also know about the Hob, as I have prepared some data for the mayor related to it. We cannot just eliminate it without providing other means to get merchandise for the Seam; this would certainly hurt the coal mining business severely."

Cray nodded and continued searching for evidence, but whoever had used this place had been careful to clean up before leaving. Eventually we left the place and got back to the truck. We spent a couple of more days searching for hints, but what we had found on the first day was by far the best lead we had, so that we returned to the district on day three. All three of us reported to the mayor, and once he heard our full report, he nodded and decided:

"I guess that we should prepare an ambush at the place you found for the time the next coal train leaves. You will need to park your vehicles far away and hike from there. What do you think, Cray, two vehicles with four peacekeepers each?"

Cray pondered that and replied: "Yes, that should be good enough. We do not know how many bad guys we may encounter, but I expect not more than four or five in total."

This was decided, and I'd be out of the loop for now; I would not be needed for the ambush, as this was entirely peacekeeper business.

Being back withing the district's boundaries and leaving the Justice Building, I found that the day was almost over, as the sun was close to the horizon. Rather than walking home directly, I made my way towards the Everdeen՚s, and I found my young girlfriend still busy in her garden. She took the task of tending the plants very seriously, and I liked to see that. She was looking in the other direction and thus did not see me; I sneaked closer until I was right behind her, and suddenly I grabbed her and swooped her up in my arms from behind. Prim was obviously totally caught by surprise and squeaked and fidgeted in my arms, but when she heard my voice she calmed down. I turned her around for a welcome hug, and she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck, saying:

"Rye, I have missed you. I am glad that you are back."

"I have missed you, too" I responded. "Did you have a good day?"

Prim nodded and said: "Yes, I did, as the weather is perfect for gardening."

After some more hugging she continued:

"Rye, by the way, for tomorrow after school I have promised to babysit Posy again. Can you join us, please? This is going to be so much more fun with you around!"

"Sure, I can," I replied, "I can take the afternoon off and meet you after school. By the way, how old is Posy now?"

"Posy is three years old, and she does not need diapers any longer. Maybe we can play in the sand together tomorrow?"

Considering that I had been doing lots of extra work during the past days I could easily get the afternoon off, and I picked up Prim from school. I already had a bag with me with some toys and food, and once Prim had changed from the school clothes to something more practical at home, we went to pick up Posy. Mrs. Hawthorne was delighted to see us:

"You know, I dearly love my daughter, but sometimes it is good to have her off for a few hours. She is like a little whirlwind, and I always need to pay attention to what she is doing. A few times Rory also can supervise her, but I cannot always have him take care of his little sister. Have fun with her, and thank you for taking her out!"

Posy was already running ahead, but not quite in the direction we had in mind. I picked her up and turned her into the right direction, but had to stop her again a few minutes later.

"You know," Prim suggested, "why don't we let her run where she wants to go, and take her where we want to go later on when she has exhausted most of her surplus energy?"

"Good idea," I nodded, "let's do that."

Like a little whirlwind, as her mother had called it, Posy ran here and there, giggling and chuckling and having fun, and we just followed. We got to the shed where Prim kept her goat, saw Posy running along a small creek, and moving forward to other houses. We had probably traversed the Seam multiple times before she slowed down and told us:

"That was fun! I am hungry now!"

Not a surprise, really. We guided her towards the copse with the patch of sand and found a place to eat on the grass, after spreading a blanket. Posy had developed quite an appetite, and once she had eaten, she dropped down on the blanket for a quick nap. Prim and I took advantage of the break and also found a place on the blanket to sit down for cuddling and hugging, until Prim looked up at me and told me, showing her big doe eyes:

"That's nice; I can feel the butterflies again."

We kept sitting and hugging like this for probably about one hour, when Posy woke up, saw us cuddling, and quickly joined us, so that we opened our arms and included her. This did not take long, though, as the little girl now decided that is was play time. She moved over to the sand and started to get herself sandy and dirty. I opened up my bag and got a few things out. Wheat and I had spent some time weeks ago on doing that, and we had crafted a few toys from wood, like a small shovel and a small rake. It had turned out that my brother Wheat was actually quite good in crafting things, and he was already thinking about making a business from that. There was a metallurgist in the district working mostly with metal, but so far there was no dedicated craftsman or shop for wood, although some residents dabbled in that for repairing or extending their own furniture.

Anyway, I took the small wooden toys, brought them over to the sand, and showed Posy how to use them. She squealed and took over, and the toys were put to good use. Later on, in the evening, we brought a dirty, but happy Posy back to her mother, and at home I could tell Wheat that the toys we had crafted had worked quite well indeed. He had found a part of a shed in our yard where he had established a small workshop, and as he was already done with school, he divided his time between baking and crafting. His main problem was, as he repeated:

"You know that this is really something I like to do. But, there is not established wood crafts shop in the district, which implies that not only I cannot be an official apprentice to an expert, I am also not allowed to open a business. For the time being, I guess, I still need to be a baker."

"I understand, but let me talk to the mayor about that, too."

A few days later I got a chance to mention my brother's gift to Mayor Undersee, and I started the conversation by showing him some of the pieces Wheat had crafted, including some small wooden tools, a few plates, and other stuff.

"I know that they probably have some experts over in District Seven for crafting from wood," I explained, "but we rarely get any products from them anyway. Lots of Seam houses have poor and not enough furniture, and due to the long work hours in the mines, the coal miners lack the time to do something about it."

"True" the mayor admitted.

"If we had a person focusing on crafting from wood," I continued, "maybe some of them could trade for products they need."

"Tell you what," Mayor Undersee stated, "I do not think that we can get permission to establish a new trade here. However, if your brother still continues to work in the bakery officially, I will not mind him spending some of his time on that crafting business, and I will advise the peacekeepers that this is legitimate. For later, we may have to find a way proving the need to have such a business to the Capitol."

"I think that this is good enough for now – thank you, sir."

At the end of the day I went home to tell Wheat about the mayor's statement and he commented on that:

"Yes, I think that this will do for now, thank you. Maybe I can make some money from selling high quality products to Merchants, and trade lower quality products to Seam residents. Let's see how it goes."

Temperatures dropped further, gusty winds blew, and the leaves started to fall down from the trees. My 21st birthday was coming up, and I found Prim oddly silent, not even asking if I wanted something special. A few days ahead of time I nonetheless told her:

"Prim, about my upcoming birthday, may I ask something from you?"

"Oh yes, sure, what is it?"

"I would like you to stay over on the day before so that I can wake up together with you, even as it is in the middle of the week. I will make sure that you get to school on time, of course."

"I would like that, too, and I do not think that Mum will mind."

As agreed Prim came over in the afternoon prior to my birthday, and our whole family spent time with her eating, playing a few games, and talking, until time for bed came up. I felt very lucky to have her with me again, and I happily cuddled with my girlfriend once we were done with our bathroom chores. As usual when we were together in bed, we fell asleep in each other's arms.

As it was my habit, I woke up early the next morning, long before the sun came up on this November day. I still found Prim in my arms, and enjoyed watching and feeling her until we needed to get up so that she could have breakfast and go to school. I woke her up with a tender kiss, and she smiled at me and wished me "Happy Birthday!", kissing me back.

To my surprise she got up and left the room in her nightgown – she looked so totally cute and adorable in that! – coming back with Peeta and a big package a few minutes later. Prim explained:

"Peeta and I have worked together to get a present for you. This is kind of a very personal present, and can you please open it here without the others seeing it for now?"

I was really getting curious now. I had noticed that, during summer, Prim had spent more time with Peeta than usual, and considering the shape of the large package I suspected that they might have done some painting together. I hurried to unwrap the gift and found a painting indeed. Getting it closer to the light and looking at it I found myself speechless for the moment. The painting showed Prim from head to toes, apparently standing in our meadow, with individual sun rays piercing the clouds and illuminating part of her body and her tanned skin. She was only dressed in a short pleated skirt and topless, but her long hair, which was usually caught in braids, covered most of her chest area. She wore her special smile which was normally reserved for me, and her expression was somewhere between cute and seductive, although the latter might have been more my imagination. Peeta, who had obviously painted that, had captured the environment perfectly well, including single strands of her hair and a few primrose flowers on her head and ears. Her bare feet were shown partially covered by grass, and one of her hands held a potted primrose flower with a tiny bumble bee as well. A few birds were even shown in the background, and one could easily imagine them singing. The painting was perfect, and Peeta must have spent quite some effort on it.

I found myself sitting down on my bed and gaping, until Prim asked:

"So, do you like it?"

I finally found my voice again and told her:

"Like it? No, I don't like it, I love it! This is perfect! Thank you so much, both of you!"

I gave both of them a tight hug and told Peeta:

"My dear brother, this is really great. I think if you wanted to do something else but baking and the Capitol allowed it, you might be able to make a lot of money with painting."

"I might," he replied, "but I still prefer baking. However, I have been asked by a few people already to do special paintings, and my next task will be to sit with Madge Undersee, for a painting the mayor wants to have in his study."

We needed to get down to breakfast now, and once done, I walked Prim to school, heading to the Justice Building for work afterwards. I got some more presents in the evening when my friends came over, but nothing was even close to the very special gift I had received in the morning. The painting got a special place on my wall, across from the bed, so that I could always see it when getting up in the morning.

_[Author's Notes: I am not sure, but I believe that the Panem trains are similar to a maglev (magnetic levitation), propelled by electromagnetic forces rather than wheel driven. I hope that you like my description of the birthday painting!_

_BTW: I am about to publish a new Hunger Games story, taking place in a time a century after this one; the title is "Timotheus and his girls". There will be many references to the Hunger Games in general and to this story here in particular. I hope that some of my faithful readers will also like it. I may not be able to continue publishing for both stories and my Skyrim story on a weekly basis, though, and I intend to change to a biweekly schedule for the time being.]_


	24. Chapter 24 - The garden party

**Chapter 24: The garden party**

_[Winter/Spring after the 73__rd__ Hunger Games]_

Winter settled in, with some snow and even colder temperatures. Christmas preparations and decorations were started in our district, on a moderate level at least. Like in the years before, we did our best to bake huge amounts of Christmas cookies, and I helped out whenever I could. As the baking cut into my time with Prim, my girlfriend volunteered to assist us in the bakery from time to time, sometimes even minding the storefront and doing some of the sales on her own. A few years ago, having the storefront taken over by a Seam girl would have caused an uproar, and many of our customers would have turned around right away. But Prim did not look like a Seam girl, and those who knew her had become used to her by now. Our customers had noticed the change of mind setting in since my mother had left, and only very few snobby Townies took offense by seeing Prim in the bakery. Eventually it even turned out that a growing number of customers appreciated being served by a pretty girl, and some of them explicitly told us so.

"Hey, Primrose," my father suggested later on when we had dinner together on a particularly busy day, "you are doing good in the bakery. If you ever decide that the healing business isn't for you, you can start here any time!"

"Well," Prim countered, "if that implies that I can order your sons around, I might feel tempted."

"Come on, Primrose," my father continued, "one of my sons has already allowed you to order him around for years, and the two others are at least mostly behaving."

"True," the blond haired girl chuckled and confirmed, "and working here with you guys is really nice."

With her help we managed to get all of the cookies done and packed into small bags, and Prim also helped with the deliveries. Like we had done two years ago, Dad decided that we should invite the Everdeen family on December 25th, and I was expected over at their place on December 26th. They would have loved to have all of us Mellarks over, but their house was too small for such a big party in winter, when you could not spend much time outside, and their oven was only a small one, too.

"I can always sit on your lap" Prim told me, and she continued with a smirk: "If we can make Katniss sit on Peeta՚s lap and Mom sit on your Dad's lap, we might cope. But somehow I do not see this happen."

On the weekend before Christmas, Wheat asked Dad if he could bring a girl home for dinner. That by itself was something special; we were not even aware that Wheat had a girlfriend, and he had never formally introduced one of his earlier crushes or temporary girlfriends to the family. Dad agreed, and we were all very curious.

On that Sunday, Prim was also with us and helped with dinner preparations, and we were eagerly waiting, until Wheat came in with a tall athletic girl who clearly looked more Seam than Merchant, with tanned olive skin, almost black hair and brown eyes. Wheat introduced her as Leevy, and Prim knew her well, as she and her family lived next door to the Everdeens; I had also seen her before a few times when she had looked over to observe what Prim and I did in the garden, but she had never been interested in garden work and spent most of the time indoors, as far as I knew.

Leevy had a nice and soft voice, and she said that she was happy to be here. When asked about how long she knew Wheat, she told us that they had met by coincidence a few months ago. When Wheat had been over in the Everdeen garden in summer, she had left the door to her shed wide open, and when Wheat had left, he had seen her together with her hobby, which was crafting. It turned out that she liked to do crafting from wood, just like Wheat liked, and they had started to talk about that. They had worked together a few times at her place, and had both found this to be very comfortable. She was a couple of years younger than Wheat, about Katniss' age and in her class at school, and while she was not his girlfriend, they liked each other and enjoyed spending time with each other.

It turned out that we had a pleasant dinner together. Leevy was a little shy, but specifically Prim՚s presence helped her to feel comfortable and relaxed. Wheat had told her about me and Prim before, so that she was not surprised to find my young girlfriend her at the bakery.

A couple of days later, on my last day of work prior to the holidays, all employees at the Justice Building were told that the Peacekeepers had successfully laid an ambush and captured everybody involved in stealing coal. The thieves had somehow managed to get somebody in the train and drop coal along a long slow order, and others had later taken it from the ground, transported it back to the district on carts, and smuggled it in again through holes in the fence, to make money from it. The story had been reported to the Capitol, and they had ordered a public punishment after Christmas, on December 28th. The two leaders of the operation were to be executed, and the others had a whipping coming.

Peacekeepers made sure that this announcement was made known in the entire district on the same day, and a – probably intended – side effect was that people felt kind of uneasy and anxious over the holidays. Nevertheless, we tried to celebrate in a good mood, starting in our own family plus Prim in the afternoon and evening of December 24th, followed by the big holiday lunch at the bakery with guests on December 25th and my day with the Everdeen family on December 26th. We needed one day of rest on December 27th to recover from eating almost too much, and then the dreaded public punishment day was there.

Like for a reaping, all district citizens were obliged to attend, and everybody was registered with fingerprints. The day started with a clear sky and low temperatures, and as were not forced to stand in age groups, Prim soon found me and my family when she came to the main square. When the time was right, Mayor Undersee and Head Peacekeeper Cray stepped out of the building and onto the stage that had been erected, like the stage being used for Reaping. Both said a few words of warning and repeated the offense done by the men who were now pushed out, each one escorted by two peacekeepers.

Two gallows had been placed there as well, and the two leaders were led there. Mayor Undersee informed the citizens:

"Those two criminals were found to lead groups of others and enticing them to steal coal which was supposed to be transported off. They had not only been instrumental in the stealing, but have lead teams to do that on a regular basis. The Capitol has ordered the death sentence to be applied, so that they can never do this again."

Prim decided to hide her face in my side while we had to watch the two gang leaders to struggle and finally succumb. Right after that, the mayor continued:

"Those other five men here have contributed to the stealing. They don't have a record of previous crimes, and 15 lashes will be applied to each of them. Tie them to the poles!"

Peacekeepers removed the upper body clothes from all of the men and tied them to poles, and the public whipping started. Same as the hanging, it was not a pretty sight at all, and the idea was obviously to keep others from doing something similar.

Once the public whipping was completed, Head Peacekeeper Cray spoke a few more words, and finally we were free to go again. After New Year's Day Prim went back to school and I resumed my work. Mayor Undersee happily told me that the coal count matched again for the last shipment, and the Capitol had praised him for getting the issue resolved properly and efficiently.

Over the next weeks, I also got to know Leevy a little better. When I was at Prim՚s place, she sometimes came over, and she seemed to be one of the very few people Katniss not even tolerated, but even talked to. While spring was not really there, February had a few almost warm days, and on one sunny Saturday I joined Prim doing some work in her garden. In most areas, the soil was still bare, but a few early crocuses and spring snowflakes were there at least. Wheat had come with me to see Leevy, and she and my brother came over after they had done some work in Leevy՚s shed, so that all four of us worked together for some time.

The neighbor girl used the opportunity to tell us a little more about herself:

"A couple of years ago my little brother got the measles, and Mrs. Everdeen treated him. But normally I do not go out much, and I guess I am a little bit like Katniss, and I feel uneasy with most people."

"And yet," I replied, "you manage to get along with my brother?"

She smiled and responded: "Yes, I know that this is strange. When he looked in my shed last summer while I was working, I tried to ignore him, knowing that he is not Seam. However, he kind of ignored my ignoring him, and eventually I could not fail to notice that he seemed to admire my work. A couple of days later, when he came again, I managed to say 'hello', and before I really noticed, we were talking about crafting."

"I was so surprised to see that somebody else was crafting with wood," Wheat added, "that I just could not leave; I had to get more details."

"Yes, and I could not believe that a Townie was actually interested in what I was doing" Leevy said. "I guess, I just assumed that Townies would not do things like that."

"By the way," Wheat continued, "I was thinking that maybe we should join our activities. I have some kind of unofficial permission to sell some of my work, but the bakery shed is not really big enough to both craft and sell. You have your larger shed over there, but selling stuff here probably would not work, as most Townies would not come to the Seam."

Prim looked up and suggested: "You could do the crafting here together and have a small shop at the bakery."

And I added: "Maybe we could even show a few pieces in the bakery shop window, and if customers are interested, we can tell them that there is a shop close by."

Wheat like that: "You know, that might actually work. Leevy, what do you think? We'd share the profit for what we sell, of course."

Leevy also liked it: "Well, if you really think so, I'd love it!"

A few weeks later Spring was about to show itself, and most citizens in the district started to do the overdue spring cleaning in their houses. This also included finding issues, like loose roof tiles, and Marc and I were busy again going around and helping various residents with urgent house repair work.

Over the past few years the attitude of some Seam citizens had changed. When I had started to do repairs years ago, when I was still an intern, most of them would not have allowed me even near their houses, and only Marc and sometimes Gale being with me helped. Most of them had learned by now that I was really there to help, and that I did not discriminate against Seam at all. Of course, my attitude did not apply to all Merchants – a lot of them still looked down at Seam people and refused to talk to them. However, the big gap was getting smaller with the years, and I was happy to see that.

The Pherson home had also been damaged over the winter, and one of the walls looked unstable. Neither Marc nor I were carpenters, but we had done a lot of 'learning by doing'. On one sunny day we got some boards and beams from our supplies and got to work, and until noon time most of the work was done. Marc's mother had lunch for us, and she did not have any problem with me joining.

"You know," she mentioned when had eaten, "I had severe prejudices against Townies just a few years ago, and by seeing how you behave and what you do, I have had to revise that view of mine."

"Thank you, Mrs. Pherson, this is good to hear," I replied politely, "but I have to admit that in general the view may still be appropriate. A lot of Merchants still discriminate against Seam residents, and some will not even allow them into their shops."

"True, but it is at least slowly changing."

We spent the afternoon refining our work, and before the sun was going down, the wall was as good as new.

Spring proceeded, temperatures were rising, and Marc and I had a chance now to complete the work on the slides in the school playground. Last year we had been able to construct two slides from a tree we had to bring down close to the school building, and we now completed the polishing, which was hard work. When this was mostly done, we thought about where and how to attach the slides. We were able to identify a place at the climbing frame for the larger one and a nice place in a tree for the smaller one; for the one in three the kids would either have to climb the tree or climb up a rope first.

After some weeks of work we had both slides properly attached and fully polished, and on one nice day in April they were opened for use. A few days before we had some kids, specifically Prim and Posy, have a go at the slides already, and they had approved. The longer ones had a couple of bumps in it, and this seemed to be fun.

Let's just say that, for some time the teachers had a hard time to get the kids back from outside after breaks.

Prim՚s birthday in May was now approaching. This year I did not have a brilliant idea for a nice present yet. I was quite sure that she would be more than happy just to spend the day with me on our meadow or so, but I really wanted to get her something special. Eventually I got an idea. I knew that Prim was quite popular at school, but she probably never had had a chance to see more than two or three friends at home, as their house was quite small. The garden area in the back was large, but there was no easy way to prepare food for a larger group. Thus I talked to Mrs. Everdeen when Prim as at school:

"Mabel, I have got this idea for Prim՚s birthday. I wonder if I could try to invite her entire class and do some kind of garden party behind the house. I know a place where we can get a few folding chairs, and I was thinking about having a campfire and roast some meat Katniss might be willing to organize. I'd add a selection of breads from the bakery. What do you think?"

"Ryan," she replied, "that sounds like a wonderful idea, and I am sure that Prim would love it. Her birthday is on a school day this year, so you'd have the entire morning for preparations."

I started to think out loud:

"Yes, this will help. I will need to get a day off for getting the garden prepared, I need to find an ally to invite the children in her class, and I will need to get meat organized. If we eat something Katniss brings, though, peacekeepers might get suspicious, so that maybe I should buy meat at the butcher's instead this time."

I got a chance to talk to Lizzy alone a few days later when Prim was busy assisting her mother, and she was more than happy to help. She would talk with the other kids in class, trying to make sure that Prim did not notice what was planned. I checked at the small butcher's next to the bakery, and they were more than happy to take an order for Prim՚s birthday.

Eventually, all preparations were done, and as far as I knew, Prim did not suspect a thing.

On the birthday morning I got up early, and my first activity was to walk over to the Everdeen home right in time to wake up Prim, wish her a nice and happy birthday, and have breakfast together with her. Once we had eaten, I walked her and Katniss to school and promised to pick her up again in early afternoon when she was done with her lesson.

This being done, I rushed to get Mark, who had volunteered to help me, and we got all the stuff we had prepared, chairs, utensils, and much more, to the Everdeen garden. We did not have many tables, but I figured that the kids could pick a plate and either sit on a chair or on the grass easily. Gale brought some lemonade from the Hob, and I prepared the place for the campfire. Just before noon I picked up the meat from the butcher's and brought it over, and the preparations were finally about done when we allowed ourselves a quick lunch break.

In the early afternoon I picked up Prim and Lizzy from school, and once I had received my usual hug and kiss from my girlfriend and a friendly smile and handshake from Lizzy, we went into the Seam. All of the preparations had been done in the garden area behind the house, so that nothing was visible from the street. Prim was a little curious about presents, but went up to her room to wash and change first.

Her classmates had been instructed to wait at some distance, and when Prim was up in her room, I signaled them to come. They came running and were directed into the garden. A few minutes later Prim came down, looked at our smiling faces, and said:

"What's up? Have I missed something?"

"No, not really. Have you checked how the flowers and herbs in the garden are doing today?"

Prim was apparently a little confused why I'd ask that on her birthday, but went out of the backdoor anyway, and suddenly there were loud 'Surprise!" shouts from everywhere around. Prim՚s jaw dropped for a moment, but then she smiled and jumped around, very happy to see her classmates around. Eventually, though, she got a little bit concerned and asked me:

"Rye, how do we feed that many people?"

"Don't worry, my love, this is taken care of."

For starters I offered a selection of pastries, and once everybody was happily chewing, I got the fire started. The whole setup was improvised a lot, but I had been able to get a large cooking grate from the bakery and placed it on a few stones, so that it was heated by the fire from below. Mark and I started to place some slices of meat on the grate and did our best to avoid getting it charred. It was the first time we tried something like that, and we needed to pay a lot of attention. Once again, it was 'learning by doing', and it was also quite interesting, specifically as we had a cheerful audience. Naturally, the kids had never seen something like that done before, and some of them looked interested. I dearly hoped that the result, the taste of the final product, would be able to justify the expectations.

Just before the meat was ready to be served, my father came over with Wheat and Peeta, and Wheat picked up his friend Leevy from next door's house, right on time. Of course Prim had insisted my family to join her party as well, and she also regarded my family as her own second family. Leevy and Wheat seemed closer than they had been months ago and looking at each other almost all of the time, and before any question were asked, Wheat proudly announced:

"Yeah, well, as you probably can see, Leevy and I are now together!"

And he emphasized his statement by kissing his girl, so that we could all see it. All of the kids applauded, and Leevy looked a little bit embarrassed, but my father hugged her and told the girl:

"Leevy, this is nice to hear – welcome to the family!"

The first slices of meat were ready now, and once I had verified that they were probably done and not half red, I started to distribute them around. Dad helped with serving bread, and Mrs. Everdeen had prepared a salad, and soon everybody was chewing happily..

Although most kids from Prim՚s class were here – some merchant students had not come, probably because their parents had not wanted for them to visit the Seam and mingle with Seam kids outside of school – there was enough to eat for all of them, and Prim was almost ecstatic about the opportunity to have such an event. Specifically for some of the Seam children, it was a rare chance that they could indulge and eat as much as they wanted, and they obviously enjoyed it. While I was tending the fire and the meat, Prim walked around and spread happiness, occasionally helping with providing second helpings.

In the evening, when the guests had left and I was cleaning up, Prim cuddled against my side and smiled:

"Rye, thank you for that – it was a wonderful party! And I really, really enjoyed the chance to host such an event and to provide a wonderful meal for the other kids!"

"You are very much welcome, my dear, and I am glad that I selected the right present for your birthday."

As it was Friday, I left the final cleaning for the next day and took Prim home to the bakery. I needed a shower, as I smelled of smoke from the fire, and afterwards I very happily joined my girlfriend in the bed. As I could easily tell from the happy expression on her face, I had yet again managed to make her happy on her birthday.

_[Author's Notes: Prim can at least have some fun before this year's Hunger Games bring big worries, which will start in the next chapter. Please write a review if you like it, and let me know what you think about the improvised barbecue party!]_


	25. Chapter 25 - 74th Hunger Games: Reaping

**Chapter 25: The 74th Hunger Games: Reaping**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

The current school year was about to end, and my little girlfriend finished sixth grade. She told me that she was still one of the best in her class, and I was immensely proud of her. Even if that was maybe kind of weird or at least not common, Prim actually liked going to school in general, although she was not fond of all of the lessons – there were a few, like history for instance, she liked much less than others.

As every year, though, we had to dread the coming of the Reaping Day for the Hunger Games. I had had my last day of work on the day before, and I was getting a little bit antsy, knowing that Prim would be eligible for the first time this year. Of course, her odds were excellent, as she was only going to have one slip in the bowl, compared to many slips of older children, in particular those who had signed up for tesserae and thus gained additional slips. But one never knew if the odds were really in one's favor.

In addition, of course, I had one brother who was still eligible. Wheat had had his last reaping last year, but Peeta was still in danger, at his age of 16. During breakfast he mused:

"What if I am chosen?"

Father tried to rationalize: "Son, your name is only on five slips, while other have dozens of slips with their names. You should be fine."

Peeta still thought: "But what if I am? What chance would I stand, as an untrained baker's son, against the Careers?"

None of us had an answer for him. Peeta was very strong, but of course not trained for combat. While he might live through the first few days, his chances of surviving Career attacks seemed to be quite slim indeed.

The sun coming up on Reaping Day gave the impression of a nice day, although nobody around conceived it like that. Well, maybe except Effie Trinket, who had arrived in the morning with her entourage per train. She always wore so much make up that you could not really see how she looked like, besides she was too far away on the stage, although the huge screen sometimes showed a closeup. However, her pinkish hair color was clearly visible, even from the back of the square, without even looking at the enlarged view of the stage which was shown on the screen.

When I had picked up the Everdeen family in the morning, Katniss had admitted that her name was in the bowl 22 times, and Gale's even 42 times; he probably had signed up for tesserae for all of his younger siblings. Katniss had just returned from her morning hunting, and the girls were now changing into their Reaping outfit. Later on, when we left their home, Katniss had to remind her sister two or three times to 'tuck her tail in' - her blouse seemed to have a tendency to slip out from under her skirt around the back, and thus sometimes Katniss called her little sister 'Little Duck' in an affectionate way. I liked that nickname for her, but did not use it myself, as it somehow felt wrong to be using the special nickname her sister had for her.

Prim giggled and replied with a small "Quack!" when she heard her sister's comment, and to my surprise Katniss responded "Quack yourself", even with a light laugh. With her little sister, Katniss sometime was a different person altogether, more open and relaxed, and replacing her trademark scowl with a friendly smile. Nowadays, after her father had died years ago in that horrible mine accident, her little sister was the only person known to me who could make Katniss behave and feel like this.

We had to register ourselves, and those eligible for reaping were guided into the proper section by peacekeepers. Eventually the mayor stepped out and started his normal speech, talking about all of the difficult times Panem had already survived and about the honor to be selected as tribute for the Hunger Games. We all knew the history of the rebellion and the consequences which had been established following it, but the Capitol used every opportunity to hammer it into our brains again and again. As I worked with the mayor and knew something about his personality, I was aware of the fact that he did not really enjoy those tasks and speeches, but the Capitol compelled him to convey their messages. He'd better behave, or else they might appoint another mayor, a situation the current office holder was understandably trying to avoid.

When the Mayor Undersee had completed his speech, Effie started the actual reaping process with her usual words: "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!" Of course, that was always easy for Effie to say – as a citizen of the Capitol, she'd never have to step a foot in the arena, or live in one of the poor districts, like ours. She looked around and said:

"Now the time has come once again for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing this district in the 74th annual Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first!"

She dropped her hand into the bowl for the females. Rather than quickly pulling a slip out and reading it, she made quite a show, pretending to chose carefully, and slowly pulled her hand out again. Eventually, Effie read the name on the slip:

"**Primrose Everdeen"**

The whole place was silent as a small girl with blond plaited hair started to step forward, and my mind needed a few seconds to process the information. When I had finally grasped the fact that my girlfriend's name had been called out and that it was her slowly walking towards the stage, I almost felt my heart standing still; I found myself almost unable to breath, and I was close to fainting, right here on the town square. Like through a mist, dampening all voices, I could hear Effie encouraging her: "Well, come on up!"

Right away, though, there was another female voice frantically shouting out: "Prim, Prim, no! I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

This exclamation partially cleared my shock, and I noticed Katniss moving forward. Of course she would volunteer for her sister she loved so much. Effie's surprise was visible even through the make-up – nobody ever volunteered in District Twelve! Nevertheless, the voice had been clear, and Effie slowly continued to talk, once she had recovered from the surprise:

"Um, normally volunteers are supposed to wait until I ask for them, but this won't change things, so please come forward, my girl."

My heartbeat had slowly returned to almost normal by now, and my breathing worked mostly fine again. The peacekeepers opened a path for Katniss to step forward, and slowly she approached the stage. While Katniss moved, Prim ran towards her and wrapped her arms around her sister's body and did not want to let her go, but Gale was close and dragged the crying and wiggling girl off, just before the peacekeepers were going to intervene. I did not have a chance to join them at this time, as those like me, out of reaping age, were strictly separated from the potential tributes.

When Katniss had stepped on the stage, Effie still looked a little bit confused, but soon talked to her:

"District Twelve's very first volunteer, I believe – what a surprise. Tell me, what's your name, my dear?"

"Katniss Everdeen"

"Well, and I bet that the young girl you volunteered for is your sister, right?"

"Yes"

"Let's have a big hand for our very first volunteer, Katniss Everdeen!"

Effie started to clap, but nobody joined in, and the audience only showed silence. From far behind where I was standing, it appeared that some of the Seam residents further forward symbolized something with their fingers, but I could not see that clearly, and maybe it had just been my imagination.

Effie Trinket seemed not to mind the missing reaction and proceeded:

"And now for the boys."

She stepped towards the other bowl, and same as before, she took a very long time to select a slip and very slowly pulled it out of the bowl. Finally she opened the slip and read the name:

"**Peeta Mellark"**

Almost like before, I felt my heart almost stopping – my youngest brother? Why was that fair? My father, who stood next to me, reached out for my hand, and I pressed it firmly. Wheat leaned into him from the other side, as I saw. Meanwhile, Peeta stepped forward, looking brave and confident – how did he manage to do that in such a situation? – and soon he was on the stage, too. Effie asked for volunteers, but this time there weren't any, of course. I might have volunteered for him, not sure, but I was far beyond reaping age.

"Here we are," Effie talked on, "our tributes from District Twelve. Well, come on, shake hands, you two!"

A confident looking Peeta and a scowling Katniss did as she suggested, and Effie ended the ceremony with some more phrases and the usual words: "Happy Hunger Games!"

The two tributes were rushed inside the building, and soon there was going to be an hour or so available for visitors. Meanwhile, though, I needed to find Prim. Gale had fortunately taken care of her when I had not been able to get close, and now, as we could move again, he made his way towards me, Prim still in his arms. I nodded to him, conveying my thanks for taking care of my girlfriend, and he dropped her into my arms.

"Ryan," Gale said, "this is a sad day for us all. For myself, I have been lucky, as this was my last reaping. However, I would have never wanted Katniss to have to go. But I guess there is time to mourn later on – some of us may want to say our 'Good Byes'."

I could see in his face that he was sure that this was the final 'Good Bye' - were not going to ever see one of the two again, alive, except for the scenes shown on the screen prior to the games.

"You are right, Gale" I replied. "Thank you very much for taking care of Prim out there, and my congratulations to you for surviving the reaping age. Let's go to the Justice Building."

Close to the entrance I also met my father and Wheat again. My grandfather, Dad's father, who had already died when I was a toddler, had established a tradition a long time ago to visit each tribute and hand over a small bag with cookies, and Dad had taken that over as part of the bakery duties and habits. Although he was practically in tears, we had our obligations and went in as soon as we were allowed to. While Prim wiggled herself out of my arms and ran over to her mother to see Katniss off, my brother, father and I had first access to Peeta.

Between his tears, Dad told him:

"Listen, son, you are a smart boy. You are strong, and you are wise. If possible, try to hide, and pick your own fights."

"Dad," he replied, "you know as well as I do that I will not come back. However, at the very least I will have a short time together with Katniss, and I will do everything I can to help her getting back alive. If I succeed in doing that, I am going to be happy."

Wow, that was quite some dedication, but I could understand his point of view. This also explained why he looked more confident than wary; he had finally managed to get some time with Katniss. We talked a little more, but our five minutes were over quickly and we had to go again. I saw a few of Peeta՚s schoolmates lined up for a visit, and Delly was there, of course; Madge Undersee was waiting to see Katniss off. Father and I also lined up to see Katniss, to deliver the cookies at least. When it was our turn, I looked the girl into the eyes and said:

"I know that you volunteered to save Prim, and I am very thankful for that. Be assured that she will be in good hands with your mother and me, and I will do my best to comfort her." ('once you are dead', I did not add, of course).

Before we had to leave again, she showed us the small mockingjay pin she had received from her friend Madge, the mayor's daughter.

One hour later, the tribute train left the district, and most citizens relaxed, as they and their families had been spared this year. I found Prim again, and we went home to the Everdeen residence. Both Prim and her mother were in tears, and Mabel Everdeen told me when she had calmed down:

"Ryan, I have spoken to my good friend, Hazelle Hawthorne; she offered to take me in for the duration of the Games and comfort me, and I really need her. Can you please be there for Prim? I am afraid that I won't be a good mother for her at this time, and she probably needs you as much as you need her."

I fully understood and nodded, and indeed, she was quite right assuming that Prim and I both needed to be close to each other for comfort.

"With your permission," I said, "I will take her to the bakery. We could stay here in your house, but Dad needs me, too."

Mrs. Everdeen nodded and went into her room to get packed. I helped Prim to pack what she needed, and half an hour later the Everdeen home was empty and would most likely stay empty until the Games ended.

Coming home, I found my father in the living room, with his hands covering the face. I told him that Prim would be staying with me, but he just sobbed. Prim, although devastated herself, had a good idea:

"Jacob, I know how it feels. You have lost a son, and I have lost a sister. Let's stick together and comfort each other when we need it."

She gave him a warm hug, until Dad looked at her and tried to smile a little:

"Primrose, I really like you, and I am glad that you are here. By the way, how does your mother cope?"

"She is going to spend some time with Mrs. Hawthorne, and hopefully this will help."

My girlfriend and I went up to my room – despite me having a job, I still lived here above the bakery and had not bothered yet to find my own place to live – and we found a place for her bag. I had already set aside a drawer in my dresser for her to use for some of the clothes when she was around, but Prim did not bother to unpack; she just dropped her bag on the floor and planted herself on the bed face down.

I had to remind her, though:

"Prim, haven't I told you about not to be in or on the bed with clothes on?"

She looked up and suddenly smirked: "Oh really? Isn't that quite forward of you to say?"

I was confused for a moment and then blushed and replied: "Oh, this did not come over as intended. Let me rephrase that: You are only supposed to be in bed when you wear your nightwear."

My little girlfriend smiled, and obviously I had at least been able to distract her from her thoughts, although this had happened by accident.

Obediently she grabbed her PJ shirt and shorts from the bag and hurried into the bathroom. Apparently, all she needed was resting, and probably supper was not important. As a matter of fact, supper was also not an issue or a need for me on this sad day, and I went down to tell my family about it. I was not alone feeling like that, and both Wheat and Dad decided to also retire early.

Thus I went back upstairs; Prim was already done in the bathroom and under the covers now, so that I did my bathroom chores as well. I lifted the covers, got down next to my girlfriend, wrapped one of my arms around her, and spread the cover over both of us. She rested her head on my chest right away, so that the smell from her hair filled my nostrils, and within minutes we were both asleep, mercifully forgetting the events of the day at least for now.

_[WARNING: The following final section of this chapter has some references to private body parts. I hope that it is still good enough to maintain the 'T' rating, but be warned – skip if you do not like that.]_

_I was happily cleaning myself in the shower, humming a song. While doing so, I thought of Prim, imagining her some years in the future as a young adult, and my body started to react to my thoughts. This did not really bother me, as I was in the shower all alone, and I started to touch myself. Before I could complete my task, though, the shower curtain parted and Prim stepped in, joining me. She looked down, noticed what I was doing, and smiled at me, suggesting: "Oh Rye, let me help with you with getting clean!". When she was just getting started, it suddenly dawned on me that something was wrong, and I started to protest: "Prim, no, what are you doing? You are too young for that!". This did not deter her, though, and I started to wiggle. "Stop wiggling!" I was told, and: "I am helping you to get clean!" I protested again, and suddenly she was gone and a dark skinned adult woman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere; a few moments later I heard something like 'the baker's penis is clean now!'. I was somewhere between enjoying and getting confused, when suddenly Prim was back, grabbed me at the shoulders and shook me – what was that for? The environment started to blur…_

and I woke up in my bed. Prim shook me, apparently trying to get me awake, and I asked:

"Prim, what's wrong? Why don't you let me sleep?"

"Rye, you must have had a bad dream. You started to wiggle, and you shouted a few times 'Prim, you are too young!', so that I decided to try to wake you up. What was your dream about? Was I in danger and you tried to rescue me?"

I opened my eyes, noticed her concerned face next to me in the dark room, with some moonlight shining in through the window which was not covered by a curtain, and suddenly I recalled the dream I had just had. Not only that, but my body sported an early morning erection, which was not really surprising after that kind of dream. Prim must be feeling it, as she had one of her legs wrapped half way around my hip. Both reason enough for me to blush, and I was happy that Prim could probably not see that in the semi-darkness.

"Rye," she asked when I failed to respond to her questions, "why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Oh Prim, this is really embarrassing, you know, and I do not know how to start."

"Come on Rye, it's only me here; you can tell me."

Although it was really hard to do, she was right; she was my girlfriend, and even more, we had a very trustful relationship. Even if it was indeed very embarrassing for me, I'd better tell her, and so I tried:

"The dream actually started very nice, with me being in the shower and cleaning myself. While doing that, I was thinking about you and how nice it would be if you joined me, and in my dream you actually did."

"That's a nice dream, and that's not a reason to get embarrassed. As soon as we are married, I plan to do that anyway. You know, the way you touch my hair and sometimes massage the skin under it, I imagine that I'd enjoy you working shampoo into my hair, for instance."

Well, this was quite something to look forward to, and I continued:

"But not only that, I had, in the dream, started to touch myself, and then you came in and saw that! I recalled that you are too young, and I shouted that."

"Ah, that's why you shouted about me being too young, I see."

"But, don't you get it? I dreamed about you being in the shower with me, all nude!"

I decided to not mention the dark skinned woman which had briefly appeared in my dreams, too, but I had already forgotten how she had looked like – only Prim was on my mind.

"Yes, I get it, but again, what's wrong about it? I mean, dreaming about it, at least? I have my own dreams as well, you know."

"You think so?" I looked confused; I had not expected that admission.

"Not sure if you have noticed, Rye," Prim continued, "but my body starts to change. Have you recently looked at my chest?"

I cleared my throat a few times before I could reply:

"Well, it looks like something is changing there, indeed."

Prim shook her head, apparently amused about my careful wording, and told me:

"Yes, there is – I am starting to grow boobs, finally. And with that, my feelings also start to develop further, and I get the first vague ideas about how it might feel when we can really be together, and this sometimes does impact my dreams. Rye, silly, I'd be very disappointed if you did not dream of me from time to time at least!"

"Okay, I get it, but dreams like that confuse me. Specifically, if they result in certain parts of my body showing a reaction, and your body getting to feel that, too!"

Prim looked down towards her leg being around me and the bulge in my pants which was clearly visible for both of us. She looked at my face again and asked:

"Rye, are you seriously concerned about me noticing what you've got in your pants?"

I nodded silently while blushing even more, and Prim commented on that:

"Oh Rye, this is so sweet, but totally unnecessary. You do recall that I am a healer's daughter, right? Mum told me about that part of a man's body and what sometimes happens, and from what I have been told and what I understand about that kind of reaction, I'd have a reason to be disappointed if that did not happen at least from time to time when you are close to me!"

Thinking about that, she did have a point, as she usually did. The one thing we found out together was that cuddling with each other and talking about our feelings made us forget our recent troubles very efficiently. Despite Prim՚s statement, though, I made sure to position our bodies in a way so that there was some distance between my morning wood and her body.

Being together and close to each other helped immensely to cope with the situation and our worries about Katniss and Peeta, at least until morning dawned and our stomachs started to growl in harmony. Well, we had skipped dinner…

_[Author's Notes: Here we go – two loved ones in the Hunger Games together! I will do my best to describe how the Everdeen and Mellark families deal with that, but I do not know how good this attempt is going to be._

_Regarding Rye__՚__s and Prim__՚__s behavior together, I hope that I am not taking it too far here, and I sure do not want Rye come over as a pedophile. However, he is a young and healthy male adult, and having certain erotic dreams is probably quite normal. In real life, those topics would not likely be discussed with a twelve year old girl, true, but this is fiction after all, and I do not claim at all that this is a reflection of what real life is or should be. I am also quite sure that Prim, as a healer's daughter, had already been educated about certain aspects of a male body by her well meaning mother before, even at her tender age._

_I believe that the language in the last section is on par with movies like 'Coming to America', where I have borrowed a phrase from a very early scene, and this one is rated '12+' in Germany where I live, so that should be all right with my 'T' story rating. Please let me know if I am wrong.]_


	26. Chapter 26 - 74th HG: Presentations

**Chapter 26: 74th Hunger Games: Presentations**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

In the morning of the next day, mandatory viewing showed a summary of the reaping events in all districts. The reaping reviews did not really provide any surprise, at least not in the first part with the usual volunteers in Districts One and Two. In general, training for the Games was not allowed, but for some reason it seemed to be tolerated in some districts on a regular basis, and those who got reaped there could always expect some older and well trained young men and women to step in for them.

The tributes from the first two districts indeed looked quite strong and well trained, and of course Prim got concerned by that:

"How can my poor sister compete against those strong guys? Even some of the girls look like fighting machines. This is so unfair!"

Wheat added: "Yes, specifically that boy from District Two looks like a dangerous opponent."

"Why does the Capitol even allow people to train for the games in those districts?" Prim wanted to know.

My father replied: "I am not sure, but I assume that this is a sign of good will honoring those districts which are specifically important for the Capitol, with One for luxury and Two for defense – the Capitol may want to make sure to assure their loyalty."

"Isn't District Four also usually sending Careers to the Games?" I asked around.

My father nodded: "Yes, most of the time they do. For some reason, they apparently don't this year. Look at their male tribute – he is barely twelve years old; there's no way that he is trained."

"Maybe the Capitol people weren't happy with the quality of the fish from Four this year?" Wheat tried to joke.

"Or maybe he's got some very special skills other than strength," my father speculated, "but this would surprise me."

When District Eleven was shown later on, we saw a tall and very athletic older male called Thresh and a very young looking female tribute called Rue, about Prim՚s size; both of them had rather dark skin. My father said:

"Look at that young girl; she almost looks too young to be in the Games!"

"But she looks so sweet!" Prim replied. "If she lived here in our district, I'd love to have her as a friend. I bet that she would like that, too."

Wheat mused: "If you compare Thresh here from Eleven to Cato from Two, they are both quite tall and strong. Who do you think will win if they meet and fight each other in the Games?"

I replied: "Thresh may be stronger, but Cato has certainly trained for years. There's no doubt Cato would win."

In the evening of the same day, there was a broadcast of the tributes being presented to the Capitol. Normally, few of the citizens in the district watched that and it was not mandatory viewing, but of course we here at the bakery wouldn't want to miss a minute this year.

The narrator explained that the tributes would be soon entering the long and wide street on chariots, so that the audience could get a feeling on what to expect from the competitors in each district. That was important to entice rich Capitol citizens to sponsor gifts during the games, and those gifts could turn out to be very important or even life saving to the tributes. The chariots and the tributes were decorated in a way to represent their district and that district's main industry, and the tributes did their best to impress the viewers, by smiling, waving, and showing off. The tributes always presented themselves in numerical orders related to their districts, starting with District One and ending with District Twelve, our one.

Soon we saw the first chariot approaching in the camera view, and the tributes – Glimmer and Marvel from District One – were dressed mostly in pink and glitter, with some feathers around for the female, showing off the luxury orientation of the district.

When she saw that, Prim snorted:

"I am so glad that nobody asks me to walk around dressed like that!"

"Why not, my dear?" I teased her. "Maybe pink is not really your color, but the feathers might look quite nice on you, I think."

Prim smirked at me, and the next chariot came along, with the tributes from District Two – Cato and Glove – dressed in gladiator like costumes.

My girlfriend used this opportunity to get back at me:

"Any you might look quite handsome wearing one of those gladiator costumes, I believe!"

The tributes from District Three wore glittering silver outfits, like some tiny electronics their district was known for. When looking at them, one could imagine tiny particles of electricity flowing through their clothes.

Prim particularly liked the outfits from District Four; they had a light blue color and symbolized the ocean their district was close to, with swimming and fishing.

The following chariots failed to catch our interest, but when the District Eight tributes had their turn, Prim almost laughed:

"Look at what they are wearing – are those carnival costumes?"

Indeed, the tributes from Eight – a tall boy whose name I forgot, 14 years old, and a pale 13 year old girl – wore costumes mostly in pink and blue, with different colors on each side, and with very colorful caps and decorations.

My father explained:

"District Eight handles textiles and clothing, and they need to show off with that. For us, it looks funny, but for the Capitol residents, it might be real nice and fancy. Do you recall the odd clothes Effie Trinket usually wears?"

"Yes, sure, but are you serious?" Wheat asked. "I agree with Prim; they look like court jesters in one of the old books I have read."

While the tributes from District Nine and Ten passed the cameras, we got ourselves a quick snack, and we were back in time to see the cute little girl and the big boy from District Eleven dressed as farmers, of course, with silver branches on their heads; their costumes were full of plaid and puffs, and nicely done, though not quite as extravagant as those of some other districts.

Finally our own district was due, with Katniss and Peeta approaching in their chariot, dressed in coal black outfits with flaming red capes. We were prejudiced, of course, but in my eyes the way they showed themselves was the most elaborate and impressive one. Somehow whoever had designed that managed to convey the impression that they looked like they were on fire, and Prim was in awe:

"Look at my sister – I have never ever seen her like that! If she makes it, I hope that she can bring that costume home."

"And my brother looks like a coal miner," Wheat said, "but that costume out there would be torn into pieces after one day in the real mines, I guess."

Prim suddenly asked with some concern in her voice: "They are not going to wear those costumes in the Games, or are they?"

I assured her: "No, they are not. For the Games, as far as I know, they all get identical and somewhat practical outfits, just in different sizes."

After that event, we needed to wait a few days until the tribute interviews were to be shown on the day before the actual Games started. During that time, the tributes could train, but what they could train for and potentially learn was mostly hidden from us.

In order to distract ourselves, we did some baking and kept the bakery open for a few hours at least, as citizens needed to eat, but nevertheless we were tense most of the time. For Prim and me, were were only able to find peace when cuddling with each other; feeling the other one close and touching each other helped a lot. A couple of times we also walked around and spent some time on our meadow, and once Wheat and his girlfriend Leevy even joined us. We found it difficult to find topics to talk about and avoid discussing the games too much, but the beautiful nature with birds singing and bees humming helped somewhat. At one time we even managed to doze off after lunch for an hour or two.

On the day before the interviews were due Prim asked me:

"What are the tributes doing during training? Are they fighting or so?"

"We do not know much about that" I replied. "Haymitch has dropped a few hints, though, and I think that they have a few stations educating them about various aspects of the game. They can practice fighting, of course, but they can also learn about how to survive in the wilderness, like which plants are edible and which are poisonous."

"But you cannot learn all of that in just a few days?"

"No, of course not" I responded. "But, you can at least pick up a few hints, I guess."

On the day when the tribute interviews were going to be on, Gale Hawthorne stopped by at the bakery in the early morning, offering a turkey and a couple of squirrels for trade. While I handed out a few loaves of bread, I asked him how Prim՚s mother was doing, and he said:

"Oh, Mrs. Everdeen is doing all right; my mother spends a lot of time with her. And, before I forget, she sends her greetings to Prim."

I called Prim down, and she exchanged a few words with Gale as well.

Then I also asked Gale:

"And how do you feel with your hunting partner of many years being out there?"

"I would have never expected how much I miss her" he replied and sighed. "She is one of the few people in the District I am fully comfortable with, and now, with her being gone, I have realized how deeply I feel for her."

He did not elaborate further, but he did not have to. We had seen indications before that Gale had feelings for Katniss, and Prim had told me about that, but Katniss had always claimed that she would never marry and never have children of her own, and at least as far as I knew, Gale was fully aware of her attitude.

For the evening viewing on that same day, Wheat had invited Leevy over to the bakery, and when she saw that Prim was already seated on my lap, she shyly asked Wheat if she could also sit on his lap. My brother smiled and nodded, and I could not resist the temptation to warn him:

"My dear brother, I hope that you know how to behave with a lady on your lap!"

He scowled, but Leevy asked:

"I am not sure if I qualify as a lady, but is there a problem?"

"Well, in the past there had been a few incidents at school..." I hinted.

"But, I assume," Leevy asked her boyfriend, "all of those happened before you knew me, right?"

He was very quick to confirm. Well, we'd see how he behaved.

Meanwhile, on the screen, the show started and the moderator was introduced:

"Ladies and gentlemen, our master of ceremonies, Caesar Flickerman!"

The man turned around in his rotating chair and was illuminated by a spotlight. This year, his hair had a blue color, different from the odd crimson color last year. The auditorium cheered after almost all of his sentences and seemed to enjoy the show, which was evident by the amount of cheering and applauding.

"How can they be so enthusiastic about something so cruel?" Prim asked.

"You need to understand," I tried to explain, "that for the citizens in the Capitol this is really just like a big game. They cannot be reaped and there is nothing they need to be afraid of. It does not matter who wins and who loses, for them it's only a big game and lots of fun and entertainment, maybe the one big highlight of the year."

In one of the old books I had found there was a long historical report on an ancient civilization called the 'Romans', and some of their smart leaders had apparently already found out that 'panem et circenses' – bread and games – were critical to keep citizens happy. Maybe President Snow had read that book as well and followed the same guidelines to ensure that the Capitol citizens were always loyal.

Meanwhile, the moderator had completed his words of introduction and went on:

"Our first tribute is from District One!"

Leevy, who was still on my brother's lap and seemed to be quite happy there – as far as I could tell, Wheat had behaved so far and had not allowed his hands to move to places they should not be – was curious: "Aren't they always in numerical order?"

"Of course they are, but sometimes they seem to like to highlight the obvious."

When the Career tributes had been interviewed, there were not really any surprises. They all seemed to be looking forward to prove themselves, and Cato, the big boy from Two, even said something like:

"Anyone who hates the games is unintelligent."

Prim was shocked: "How can they say something like that? How can they actually like the games and look forward to being in the arena?"

My father replied carefully: "Primrose, the Career tributes have been educated and trained that way. For them it is probably an honor to volunteer and to participate. Even knowing that only one of them can make it, it's still a good thing for them."

I added: "Maybe it also helps to know that, as a tribute who had volunteered, the other kids in your district don't have to fear being reaped, and that you are safekeeping them. Just imagine that you are a young teenager, and you know that even if your name is read, somebody will take your place – isn't that a good thing, too?"

The interviews afterwards were not really interesting for us and we used the opportunity to get something to eat, but we paid attention when Rue, the little girl from Eleven, was on stage much later during the show. She was dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, and she looked very cute and almost magical. Caesar first congratulated her on her training score of 7 – how had this petite girl been able to achieve that? – and then asked:

"Tell me, Rue, are you a hunter, a gatherer, a scavenger, or what?"

"Well, I can find food" she replied. Yeah, that would certainly be a great help when she was found by the Careers.

The girl was asked about weaponry she could handle, and after some hesitation she mentioned the slingshot. Then Caesar said something about a catchphrase he had heard from her earlier, and she stated it clearly:

"Well, if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out."

Caesar smiled at her and ended that interview with the remark: "Rue, I think that the other tributes are going to rue the day they met you!"

And Prim commented again: "She is really is so cute! But she's not really having a chance, right?"

I shook my head: "No, with a slingshot and trying to hide, she's not likely to win – sorry."

Now, with all districts except ours done, only Prim՚s sister and my brother were left. Caesar announced Katniss with a training score of 11 – how was that possible? Even Cato only had a 10! – and the 'Girl on Fire' was called on the stage. She was clearly nervous, and Prim on my lap started to tremble. The tribute's first almost stuttered words made the audience laugh a few times, but Caesar actually found some phrases of admiration:

"When you came out of that chariot a few days ago, I have to say, my heart stopped."

Katniss bluntly responded to that: "So did mine."

Caesar also asked about the flames which had been around Katniss during the chariot ride, and she asked smugly if he wanted to see them. Flickerman asked:

"Is it safe?"

Katniss confirmed that, and for the first time during that interview, she actually started to smile.

"Oh my," Prim chuckled, "is my sister going to be on fire again now?"

On the stage, Katniss stood up and started to turn around in her red dress, and it actually looked like flames were coming out of the wider bottom part. The audience cheered loudly when this was shown, and Prim smiled, too, for a moment at least.

After Katniss was back on her seat, Caesar took one of her hands and said:

"Of course I need to ask how you got your very high training score; care to explain that?"

We'd like to learn about that, too, of course, but Prim՚s sister had the only possible answer to that: "Caesar, if I told you, I'd give away my advantage, wouldn't I? Let's just say that there's a reason for that score."

The moderator had to accept that and continued: "One more question, Katniss – this is about your sister."

Prim squealed: "How does he know about me?"

My father explained: "Primrose, you were the one who was originally reaped, and everybody noticed that your sister volunteered for you!"

Meanwhile, the question on stage was: "Did she come and say 'Good Bye' to you?"

"Of course I did!" Prim stated, almost outraged.

On the stage, Katniss simply responded "Yes, she did".

Caesar continued to dig: "And what did you say to her, in the end?"

"I told her that I'd try to win and come back to her" was Katniss' straight answer, and Prim nodded, confirming that to us.

With that conversation, a buzzer went of to indicate that the three minutes dedicated for each tribute were over; the girl's interview was done, and Peeta came up. The first question for him was how he regarded the Capitol, and he said:

"It's different."

That was of course not good enough, and when he was asked to elaborate, he said:

"The showers are very different. Tell me, do I still smell like roses?"

Some chuckles were heard from the auditorium in the Capitol, and they talked about smells for some time, in particular the rose smell from some showers. The audience liked it; that was certainly an approach they were not used to, and they clearly appreciated it.

Caesar went on: "Pete, tell us..."

He called my brother 'Pete'? Really? They could not even pronounce our names properly?

"Do you have a special girl at home?"

Oh gosh, Peeta wouldn't say it, or would he? Prim now suddenly paid attention again, too, and started to wiggle on my lap.

And no, he denied: "No, not really."

Caesar, though, objected: "I don't believe it for a second! Look at that face, a handsome man like you! Peeta, come on, tell me!"

Peeta seemed to ponder this for a few seconds, and finally admitted with some hesitation:

"Well, there is this one girl… I've had a crush on her forever, but I don't think that she even recognized me before the reaping."

"Yes, I knew it!" Prim shouted.

Before I could ask her what she meant, Caesar continued:

"I tell you what, Peeta: You go out there and you win this game, and when you get home, she'll have to go out with you!"

Prim looked unhappy now again, and I suspected that she actually knew about Peeta՚s crush on Katniss, and Peeta now provided the response, very slowly articulating the words:

"I don't think that's going to work for me at all."

"But why not?"

Peeta visibly hesitated to tell, but finally sighed and said:

"Because she came here with me."

"Well, that's really bad luck" Caesar replied, after a moment of stunned silence. However, the crowd almost erupted, and the audience seemed to embrace this love statement and the situation with lots of applause, which took a long time to subside.

We all wondered if Peeta might have told Katniss about his feelings for her on the train, during the training session, or at some other time they had been forced to be together recently, but we would probably never learn. Prim was now jumping up and down excitedly, and finally she said: "Yes, it is really true!"

When I asked her how she had known, she looked at me and said:

"Silly, do you think I would not notice when somebody looks like that at my sister for years? But you knew, too, right?"

"Yes, we all knew here in the family."

"And yet you did not say a word to me?" she almost looked offended now.

"We all had to promise Peeta not to tell. Be honest, Prim, if I had told you, would you have been able to keep if from Katniss over all the years?"

"No, probably not" she admitted.

The show had ended after Peeta՚s interview, and later on, we all found it hard to get to sleep, knowing that the Games were starting tomorrow and 23 of the tributes were not going to survive the next couple of weeks.

When Prim and I finally got into bed, it was quite hot in the room. Today had been a real hot summer day, and the bakery building had heated up some. Even with some cooler air during the night, the walls were still quite warm from the day, and the heat from the bakery ovens did not help, even though my room was not directly above the ovens. Naturally, we did not have anything like air conditioning; I was not sure if even the houses in the Victors' Village had that.

Anyway, I did not bother with a shirt or PJ top and just wore my usual boxers to bed, waiting for Prim to do her chores in the bathroom. The curtains were already drawn, and the window was wide open behind the curtain. For me, being used to sleep in a rather cool environment, the summer months were always challenging, but at least the summer wasn't that long around here.

My girlfriend came back from the bathroom, and when she saw my uncovered chest, also removed her top and joined me in the bed. I had not expected that and was speechless for the moment, but she did not stop there. She placed herself in front of me into one of our favorite positions, with me spooning her from behind, and pulled my arms around her. Not only that, but she also firmly placed both of my hands on her upper chest, where her boobs had started to grow.

That made me squeal and squirm, but Prim had apparently expected that and held my hands tightly in place. She whispered so that I could barely understand it:

"Let me guess, you feel uncomfortable because you have been told that this is not how a gentleman behaves?"

I recalled that I had used phrases like that once or twice before, and I nodded and whispered back: "Yes."

"We have done this before, you know, and this not really different. But, just tell me, did my mother define any rules when we are together in bed?" I was now asked.

She was right, we had done this before, like when we had been sick, and I had had my hands on her upper chest several times, but this was the first time her chest was not completely flat any longer. I thought about my girlfriend's question for a moment and replied truthfully:

"Yes, she did; I think that she mentioned a couple of times that I'd better keep my hands above your waist."

"Yes," Prim confirmed, "this is also what she told me. Now, where exactly are your hands now – above or below my waist?"

"Well, above your waist" I had to admit.

"So," she continued, "we are not violating the rules, are we?"

I hated it when her logic was better defined than mine. Well, in this situation, this was not really correct. I certainly did not hate the place where I had my hands, and based on her behavior – she had pulled them there, after all – she seemed to like it.

"Prim, is this really what you want?"

"Rye, look, I fully understand and agree to the limits below the waist. The pregnant girl in the games a few years ago is something I will probably never forget, and recent events, with my name being read on Reaping Day, have reminded me again how grave the danger is. However, hands above the waist is a different story. Feeling your hands right where they are now is very enjoyable for me and makes me feel totally at ease and relaxed, and please keep them there so that I can fall asleep and have nice dreams, thinking more about you than about my poor sister."

It worked like that? Indeed, it kind of did, for both of us. Not only could I hear by her breathing that she went to sleep soon, but I also did not take very long. Our position made me very aware of a girl in my arms who needed a lot of comfort, and knowing that I was able to provide that for her made me happy, too. How did my girlfriend get so smart? Sometimes I had the feeling that she dictated the way our relationship developed, but that was more than all right for me.

_[Author's Notes: Naturally, with this being from Rye's and Prim__՚__s perspective, we don't learn what's happening on the train and during training, but it's assumed to be quite like in the book, and those parts have also been retold in multiple variations in other stories. Also, I do not really know which events are mandatory viewing and which are not, I am just guessing._

_Like in the chapter before, regarding what Rye and Prim do together in his room, this is fiction, and I do not claim at all that this is a reflection of what real life is or should be.]_


	27. Chapter 27 - 74th HG: Kick off

**Chapter 27: 74th Hunger Games: Kick off**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

In the next morning, Prim and I prepared breakfast for the family. We had probably slept better than my father and brother; close cuddling had indeed helped both of us to get to sleep easier and to get distracted from the current events. I wondered how much Dad missed to have female company in his bed, but he did not talk to his sons about that.

The Games kick-off event was scheduled to start early in the morning, to have a full day of action to be shown to the audience. Before the tributes were entering the arena, cameras provided an overview for everybody watching the screens, and the environment looked a little bit similar to the 71st Hunger Games, with some trees, some open areas with grass, and a small number of creeks and ponds, plus a lake right next to the Cornucopia. Katniss should feel more or less at home there, or so we hoped at least, but for Peeta we were worried – he was not used to much nature. Of course we also wondered if Katniss and Peeta had agreed to stay together for the first few days at least, as tributes from the same district frequently did, but we'd see about that.

Eventually, the tribute elevators lifted the tributes up from below, and the 60 second countdown started. Katniss and Peeta were not next to each other, and like all of the other tributes, they were looking around to assess the environment and to see where supplies were located. As always, the tribute platforms were in a ring, all at the same distance from the Cornucopia, a giant gold colored structure formed like a horn. Close to that place they always offered the most tempting and useful supplies, like food, water containers, fire starters, weapons, medicine, clothes, and more, whereas smaller packs and less useful supplies were placed in other locations sparingly.

When the gong sounded, we saw Katniss going for a backpack which was on the ground not far from her. She got it, but at the same time the male tribute from District Nine reached out for it, too, and a fight started. The boy was only 14 years old and smaller than Katniss, so that he was unable to quickly end the struggle in his favor.

"Katniss, run!" Prim shouted, jumping up and down on my lap.

Suddenly a knife was thrown from somewhere and hit the boy in the back. Blood was sprayed around, but Katniss seemed to be unhurt, and she started to run towards the forest, with the backpack. Another knife was thrown in her direction, and we could see that the knife thrower was Clove, the female tribute from District Two. Fortunately, though, the knife hit Katniss՚ backpack and got stuck in it. Katniss did not waste any more time and ran into the forest. However, at least she had a knife now.

Meanwhile, a number of more fights had occurred close to the Cornucopia. Thresh, the big male from Eleven, had managed to get there as one of the first and grab some goodies, including a formidable sword. The boy from District Seven tried to stop him, but Thresh easily pushed his opponent's spear aside, killed him with his newly acquired weapon, and ran off towards the forest.

The boy from Eight, 14 years old, had also tried to grab a supply pack, but had not seen Marvel, the Career boy from One, with a knife he had just picked up moments ago. In a similar way, the Careers worked together and tried to eliminate as many other tributes as they could early on. This was difficult this year, though, as the forest was close, and many others simply tried to vanish there rather than facing the Careers. Peeta was shown in a fight with a Career boy, but for some reason we could not see they stopped, and a few minutes later a bruised Peeta was on camera in the middle of the Career alliance group.

"What is my boy doing with the Careers? Is he out of his mind?" my father asked.

"Maybe he made some kind of deal with them" I suspected.

Rue was only briefly shown at the start, and she had, after picking up a very small bag, dashed right into the forest and was gone. Most likely, she was trying to hide as much as she could, and with her dark skin and her skills, she might be able to even hide from the cameras most of the time.

After the initial bloodbath close to the Cornucopia, the afternoon was kind of slow, and not much happened. Inside the forest, getting all tributes on camera was difficult, and most on the non-Careers apparently wanted to get away from the Cornucopia as much as they could, including Katniss and Rue.

At the end of the day, when the dead tributes were shown, it turned out that eleven tributes had already been killed, so that only thirteen remained alive. As the Career alliance had both tributes from One and Two, the girl from Four and Peeta, this meant that only seven others had managed to escape the initial bloodbath.

Just before the viewing ended for the day, a camera showed Katniss checking her backpack, and she found a small healing package including iodine, crackers, dried beef strips, matches, some wire, a strange type of sunglasses, and an empty plastic bottle.

"She does not have any water!" Prim shouted out with concern.

"Hopefully she will find some tomorrow" I offered.

When the viewing ended for the day, we helped ourselves to some food in the bakery, but nobody was up for much talking. Unlike previous games, which we had been able to mostly ignore or at least view from a distant position, having Peeta and Katniss as tributes made everything very personal. Although there was nothing at all we could do, we were all tense and nervous, but that could not be helped.

When Prim joined me in my bed this evening, she placed herself right on my chest facing me, with her face very close to mine. We were again both topless, and I found this to be a very comfortable position as well. Even at her current age of 12, Prim was still quite petite and skinny, and her tiny weight on top of me did not bother me at all. Due to her small size, her hips were on my lower chest rather than close to my own hips, so that no friction or pressure was there close to my private parts; otherwise sleep might have been a real challenge for me.

As it was, we both got to sleep like this and still found ourselves in the same position in the morning. Once again, being together and also smelling each other's body and hair had calmed us down and comforted us. Furthermore, waking up like that in the morning, with my love right on top of me, was something I could really get used to, and my feelings towards Prim almost exploded; I was so much in love with her.

The next day, the second day of the Games, started with a quick review. Quite close to the tree Katniss had selected to sleep in, the female tribute from District Eight had picked a spot on a small clearing to start a fire during the night. Even we, watching from a distance, could see that this seemed not be a very smart move. While she apparently wanted to warm herself up, the fire advertised her position to everybody else who wanted to see it in the darkness.

And indeed, another camera showed the entire Career pack coming closer when dawn was starting. The camera revealed that the stupid girl from Eight had dozed off at the fire, and that was it. She was severely injured by Cato and finished off by Peeta, and a hovercraft came to pick up the body. While my brother had done his move, the cameras and microphone caught one of the Careers saying that he'd love to kill 'Lover Boy', as some of them had started to call Peeta. Another tribute reminded them that he was their best chance to find Katniss and find out how she got her very high training score.

"Why did Peeta have to kill that poor girl?" Wheat was shocked.

My father provided a likely explanation: "If he had not, somebody else would have. Also, maybe he needed to prove to the others that he can kill."

"But why is he with the Careers at all?" Wheat asked further.

"We do not know" I replied. "But, if he was just on his own, how long would he survive out there? Maybe he thinks he can stay alive longer like that, in order to help out Katniss later on. Also, thanks to what we just heard, we know now why the Careers tolerate Peeta with them. They seem to believe that he is their best chance to find Katniss."

"But why are they so eager to get Katniss?" Wheat asked.

"As they said before, they want to learn how she got her high training score." my father responded. "In addition to that, I assume that something may have happened during the training sessions which makes at least some of the Careers strongly dislike her, but that's just a guess."

"Quite possible" Prim added. "Unfortunately, my sister has always been quick in antagonizing others."

As soon as the Career group had moved on, Katniss was shown climbing down from her tree and sneaking around, probably looking for water.

"Katniss!" Prim shouted, as if her sister could hear her. "There is a small pond not very far from you, just in the other direction!"

The camera showed the pond, but obviously it was not visible from Katniss' point of view, and the poor girl continued to search in vain. While she eventually caught a rabbit in a snare, there was no water for her.

Meanwhile, the Career group was shown stalking on, with Peeta, and Wheat wondered:

"What is Peeta still doing with the Careers? Shouldn't he try to find Katniss on his own?"

"Maybe he's got a plan, and finding Katniss may be difficult if she does not want to be found." I mused. "Maybe Katniss is mad at him for declaring his love during the interview?"

"Oh yeah, it's quite possible that Katniss is mad at him for that, indeed" Prim confirmed.

Somehow the Career group failed to located any other tributes to hunt, and it was obvious to us that they had nobody with them who was knowledgeable in the forest, and nobody who could read tracks and footprints properly. A few times they came close to others, but the Careers made a lot of noise. Not only were their steps loud, but they also talked a lot.

Thresh, the big male from Eleven, saw and heard them a few times, but was easily able to hide and avoid a confrontation. Rue was shown a few times, too, but it was very difficult to see her on camera the way she was hiding, and the Careers did not stand a chance locating her. We wondered why the two tributes from Eleven did not stick together, but they probably had their good reasons. In a similar way the girl from Five sneaked around and was invisible to the Career pack.

"How can a group of people go hunting and make that much noise?" Prim wondered.

"Not everybody has the gift to move stealthily like your sister can" I replied. "Also, the Careers do not really need to force a confrontation. They have most of the supplies and can afford to wait."

Another camera showed Katniss again. Of course she was smart enough not to light another fire, but apparently she recalled the fire the other girl had lit, and as the coals were still hot, she used this to cook the rabbit. Afterwards, she walked around, most likely searching for water again. Rather than finding some, though, she first encountered lots of delicious looking berries on a few bushes and grabbed a handful of those.

Prim shouted: "NO!", startling us with that.

And, like her sister had heard her, Katniss reconsidered, had a closer look at the berries, and dropped them.

Prim sighed: "Those berries are poisonous. I don't know how Katniss realized that, but I am happy that she did. Maybe she had encountered them before in the forest."

"Or maybe she was educated on them in the training program" my father suggested.

Not much else happened on that day, but Katniss had clearly seen Peeta together with the Career tributes, and her scowl had told us that she did not approve. At the end of the day Prim՚s sister was going to spend another day on the tree, still without water.

At the bakery, we had much more comfortable sleeping accommodations, but the images from the arena kept our minds busy. I dreamed of also sleeping in a tree and was afraid of falling down; apparently I had whimpered a few times until Prim woke me from my troublesome dream, and we managed to get back to sleep, hugging each other closely.

When we woke up on the next day, we shared our mourning meal and a large cup of hot chocolate, and we both thought about Prim՚s sister, who still did not have any water.

The morning viewing sessions, at the start of the third day of the Games, showed an exhausted looking Katniss in her tree. She needed to find water on this day, or she wasn't going to survive, we expected. Nevertheless, she spend more than half a day looking in the wrong direction, and only when she was more crawling than walking already and finally dropping in some mud, she must have realized that the mud was getting humidity from somewhere. Promptly the camera showed a pond with water lilies only a few meters from her while Katniss looked almost like dead, and we feared for her. A few minutes later something must have triggered in her half dead brain; apparently she noticed the pond and managed to crawl towards it.

"Will she drink right away or purify the water first?" I mused.

"What's there to purify?" Prim asked.

My father explained: "A lot of water provided in the arena is dirty, and some of it is full of bacteria. Some tributes actually died from drinking polluted water in the arena in years before. The iodine Katniss has in her backpack can be used for water purification, but I doubt that she is conscious enough to think of that now."

However, the poor girl surprised us, and rather than drinking, she filled her big bottle and added iodine, and only drank like half an hour later when the iodine had hopefully done its job. Once she had purified and drunk enough water and eaten something, the camera showed Prim՚s sister going back to sleep in a tree again.

The other cameras could not show much. The Career group did not have a water problem, of course, as they controlled the lake next to the Cornucopia and had plenty of supplies. Some of the other tributes, namely Rue, had apparently managed to hide quite well, and the cameras were unable to zoom in to them.

When we went to bed on this night, Prim was quite relieved to know that her sister had finally found water.

"Now she just needs to get her hands on a bow!" she mused before falling asleep.

When we started to watch again on the next day, the fourth day of the Games, there was a recap first from the night. Apparently, the gamemakers had been bored by not much happening for a day or two, and they had decided to spice up things. They had started a fire stampede, originating from within the forest, and heading towards the group of trees where Katniss was. She was quickly dropping herself down and soon shown to flee from the fire, together with a group of deer, rabbits, and other wild animals. Once she stopped for a break and was shown drinking something, there were suddenly fireballs launching themselves from unknown sources, and some of them came dangerously close to the poor girl.

For some reason, Katniss was affected most by the fire. Rue had been able to evade in another direction, and Thresh and most of the other tributes had not been close enough. A couple of the Careers suffered minor injuries.

Prim got more antsy with every minute, and she trembled on my lap, barely able to watch any further.

Eventually though, with quite a few minor injuries and heat burns, Katniss managed to find a pool of water, and she used it to treat her burns at least. We were relieved to see that she got some rest now, but we were also concerned how Peeta was doing. As it turned out, we did not have to wait long, until the Career group was shown getting close to the pool where Katniss was.

"Katniss, run!" Prim tried to encourage her sister, but Katniss only noticed the danger much later, when the group had almost reached the pool. Despite of all the exertion she'd had to go through earlier in the day, Katniss was real quick to gather her belongings and run, and apparently the others had also had a hard day and were not as quick as they should have been pursuing her.

Katniss managed to find a high tree and climbed up, and once the Careers came close, she was already high enough to prevent easy pursuit. All of them were bigger and heavier than the 'Girl on Fire', and they probably could not climb too well. The cameras were now close enough to show details, and we could even hear them talking:

"How's everything with you?" Katniss called down from the tree.

"Well enough" was the reply from Cato, the boy from District Two. "Yourself?"

"It's been a bit warm for my taste lately" Katniss called down.

That almost got us laughing.

"The air's better up here. Why don't you come on up?" Katniss teased the others.

"I think that I will," said the same boy, but did not even try to get on the tree. He must have realized that he was almost twice Katniss' weight and would not be able to even come close to her in the tree.

"Here, take this, Cato," offered the girl from District One, and she supplied the silver bow and quiver of arrows, which had been on the ground close to the Cornucopia at the game start.

"What could Katniss do with such a bow!" Prim stated and sighed.

However, Cato declined the offer: "No, I am better with my sword."

The big Career boy actually accepted the challenge now and started to climb, and Katniss was shown to get even higher. However, Cato did not know which branches to step on and which ones to avoid. Just a couple of minutes later one of the branches he used could not support his weight and broke, and Cato crashed down to the ground.

The girl from One, Glimmer, now tried the same, and she had the bow and arrows with her. She got higher than Cato, but by far not high enough to get even close to Katniss. When she had a stable position, she tried to shoot Katniss with arrows, but she was clearly not trained in using bow and arrow and missed every time.

Eventually, dusk came, and the Careers decided to stay the night. "Oh, let her stay up there in the tree. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning." Peeta was heard saying. And indeed, even from the bird's eye perspective provided by the cameras, it appeared that Katniss did not have a lot of options. She might be able to sneak down during the night, but the group was likely to post guards.

This ended the day's viewings, and we mused that we still did not have a clue where exactly Rue was. Maybe she was really that good in hiding and not being seen.

When we went to bed, Prim still trembled a little. The excitement with the fire and seeing her sister getting injured and almost dying from lack of water had devastated her, and it was not easy for me to calm her down. She needed me to hold her tight during the entire night, which was a service I was very happy to provide, as it also helped to get me relaxed again. Eventually, both of us were able to get a few hours of sleep at least.

Next morning, at the beginning of day five in the Games, there was again a review from the last night. While we had a simple breakfast at home in the bakery, we watched the review, which started by showing Katniss trying to arrange herself high up in the tree and tying to find some sleep. In the middle of the night, though, she woke up and looked around, not seeing much with the dim illumination provided by the fire the group down has lit. The camera zoomed in and showed a pair of glowing eyes, probably from a tree dwelling animal. However, the eyes moved further and revealed a very small human body, and Prim shouted:

"Look, this is Rue!"

Indeed, Rue was there on the next tree, looking over at Katniss; the moon provided just enough light to identify her. She must have seen the predicament the older girl had gotten herself into, and she made some motion with her hands, trying to point out something. The camera followed the guidance, and before Katniss had a chance to see that, we were shown something like a big wasp nest. Actually, as this was the Games, it was more likely to be a nest of tracker jackers, bigger and more poisonous than wasps. Eventually Katniss got the hint and was shown moving towards the root of the branch holding up the nest, and she started to use her knife trying to saw it off. For some reason, though, she stopped when she was more than half done and moved back to her sleeping corner, finding a parachute there. The camera revealed that there was medicine in there, and it could be applied to her injuries, in particular the burns.

The show skipped some time and now showed a review of dawn breaking. Rue had left the immediate area, and Katniss awoke, while the group below were all asleep, including Glimmer, who was supposed to stand guard last. The girl in the tree continued to saw, and when she was almost done, one of the insects found her and stung her close to one knee. She continued to apply her knife, and soon the whole branch with the nest fell down, close to the Careers.

The poor boys and girls down there woke up to a full scale attack of tracker jackers, and it was not a nice sight. Peeta and a few of the others were reacting promptly by leaving everything behind and running away as quickly as they could, shouting "To the Lake!" repeatedly. Glimmer and another girl, the one from District Four, were not so lucky, though. They both suffered from multiple stings, and their shrieking could be clearly heard.

Soon the District Four girl succumbed to the tracker jacker poison and was picked up by a hovercraft, and Glimmer apparently lost consciousness, but was not quite dead yet.

"Wow, that worked!" Wheat called out.

"Yes, but I think that Katniss also got stung once or twice..." Prim was concerned.

"And Peeta got one, too, I guess, despite his quick reaction" I added.

Soon one of the cameras showed Katniss getting down from her tree and moving towards the pool she had used on the day before; the girl submerged herself for a few minutes to cool off, and when she came out again, the camera zoomed in to show a huge blister on her knee from a tracker jacker sting. Some time later, when Katniss had tried to treat her stings, only partially successful, she suddenly got up and walked back to the trees.

"What's on her mind now?" her sister on my lap wondered.

The question was answered when Katniss approached Glimmer's body, her eyes fixed on the bow the other girl held.

"Of course, she wants to get the bow" my father told us.

Apparently, this was not an easy task, and Katniss even had to use a stone to unlock Glimmer's fingers from the handle. Eventually, she barely managed to retrieve her bounty before Glimmer finally died and a hovercraft came to pick up the body. Just when she had picked up the arrows, too, footsteps could be heard, and suddenly Peeta was next to her.

Prim trembled: "What is he going to do to her?"

The question was justified – he had allied with the Careers, so what was he going to do?

"What are you still doing here?" could be clearly heard. Peeta also did not look good, and he had at least one sting under his ear. "Are you mad?" he rambled and prodded Katniss with the tip of his spear. "Get up and run!"

Katniss did not really get what he wanted right away; maybe she was dizzy from the tracker jacker poison. The screen, though, clearly showed where danger approached, in form of a furious Cato, the big guy from District Two, who came closer though the bushes. He was wet and also stung at least two times, and finally Katniss realized that she really needed to run, and run she did, with her newly acquired bow and arrows, past the pond and further on, until she lost her pursuer and dropped down on the ground.

"Oh no!" Prim shouted. "I hope that she's still alive! Maybe she just needs rest?"

Meanwhile, Cato had noticed Peeta warning Katniss off, and he got furious about that. He got his big sword out and cut Peeta՚s thigh open, not giving him any chance to defend himself with his spear. We were expecting Cato to finish off my brother, but when he noticed that he had inflicted a severe injury, he just told him: "That's for cheating on us. No reason to kill you now; have fun suffering until we get back to you!"

The cameras move on the other tributes and showed their stings, and the morning viewing was over, to be continued in the afternoon.

Prim sighed: "This is so exciting. I so hope that Katniss can recover and join up with Peeta."

The rest of us were more worried about Peeta՚s injury at this time. My own nerves were kind of tense, and it was difficult to calm down. We had some lunch together and tried to rest, and a few hours later looked at the screen again. The afternoon events were not so exciting though.

Around the Cornucopia, the Careers were not idle at all. The boy from District Three, the electronics experts, had been allowed to join them when he claimed that he might be able to dig out the explosives and electronics hidden at the tribute elevators, those that were supposed to go off if a tribute started off too early. Cato ordered him to booby trap their supply heap and the area around, so that their valuable goods could not be stolen why they were off hunting, and the boy got to work.

Another camera showed Peeta stumbling away from the forest; close to dusk he found the stream, where he drank some water and collapsed. My father and brother and I were of course very concerned about him and his wound. It had looked bad, and we wondered what he might be able to do about it.

"I wonder if he's got some medicine in his backpack?" Wheat asked.

"Well, it would have to be some very special medicine to help him" I suggested.

"Maybe it looked worse than it really is" my father tried to offer, but we somehow failed to believe this.

When we got to bed that night, Prim was trembling again. The day had been really exiting, and the poor girl slung her arms around me, holding me tight and seeking comfort. I was worried as well, about the wound Peeta had received, and sleep did not come easy for both of us.

_[Author's Notes: I have tried to show the events more from an outside perspective. Not sure if I have succeeded in doing that right. Please let me know what you think!_

_Also, I found it quite challenging to keep an overview on which tribute is doing what at any time, and my apologies if there are inconsistencies; there probably are a few in this chapter and the next ones. I tried at least to follow the official ranking of tributes.]_


	28. Chapter 28 - 74th HG: Katniss and Rue

**Chapter 28: 74th Hunger Games: Katniss and Rue**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

For most of the next day – day number six in the arena – Katniss seemed to be not really herself, and she was seen dozing or even unconscious for some time. Prim explained that tracker jacker poison was likely to be responsible for that, and Katniss would need this one day at least to become more or less normal – if somebody found her, she was not going to be able to defend herself properly and would be killed.

Fortunately, the day turned out to be very quiet. No fights broke out, nobody got killed, and not much happened at all.

Thresh had established himself close to a field of wheat south of the Cornucopia; being used to grain from his home district, he knew how to make food from it, and he also used it for hiding. He was shown a few times improvising in grinding wheat to something he could eat. The District Five female sneaked around and manged to steal a few small things from Thresh's pack when he was not looking.

A couple of times the Careers got a glimpse of Thresh and were tempted to hunt him down, but wiser minds claimed that the big tribute from Eleven would have a big advantage in the field, making the hunt too dangerous. Also, the Careers needed time to recover from their stings as well.

For us at home, this was a welcome change, and we were able to relax a little more than usual. Rather than the snacks we had had on the days before, I prepared a full lunch on this day, using some of the meat we had in our big refrigerator, and we indulged when it was ready.

At the start of day seven in the games, Katniss was now shown to be awake again, and she looked a lot better. She had apparently recognized that she needed to eat again; she successfully hunted a bird which looked like a smaller turkey and risked a small fire.

Prim was very happy about that: "My sister looks much better now, as she has water and something to eat; I believe that she has mostly recovered from the stings, too. I do hope that she is careful around that fire, though."

Suddenly a noise was heard from the screen, just barely noticeable. Katniss must have heard it, too, and reacted very quickly by bringing the bow up and nocking an arrow. Almost like in slow motion, a small boot appeared, and little Rue, the petite female tribute from District Eleven, very slowly stepped out from behind a tree. Katniss relaxed visibly, denocked the arrow, and started to grin, and she said: "You know, the Careers are not the only ones who can form alliances."

Prim started to smile when she saw Rue, and I liked that encounter as well.

For a moment, there was no response in the arean, and then Rue's timid and doubtful voice was heard: "You really want me for an ally?"

"I do. You saved me by pointing out those tracker jackers. You are smart enough to still be alive. And, it appears that I cannot get rid of you anyway."

Rue was apparently surprised and needed a moment to digest that, when Katniss asked her:

"Are you hungry?"

When Rue slowly nodded, she got invited: "Come on then, I've got some food today."

Rue offered: "If you want, I can fix your stings."

"Can you, really? How?"

Rue opened her backpack and pulled out a handful of leaves.

Prim got excited: "Those leaves look like the ones Mom uses when somebody got stung by a wasp or bee. How does Rue know that?"

"I think that we can be happy that she does" I replied.

In the arena, Katniss was curious, too: "Where did you find those?"

"Just around, in the forest. At home, we all carry them when we work in the orchards."

"That's right. You're District Eleven. Agriculture, orchards, correct? That must be how you can fly around the trees like you've got wings."

Rue was shown smiling, and Katniss prompted her: "Come on then, fix me up."

The little dark skinned girl died not hesitate, and to our surprise she took a small number of leaves into her mouth and started to chew. A few minutes later, she pressed a wet part of leaves on the older girl's stings, and Rue was heard to say: "At least you had the sense to pull the stingers out or you'd be a lot worse."

When Prim՚s sister was properly treated, she suggested to do something for the younger girl's burn on her forearm and applied a little of the burn medicine there.

"You seem to have good sponsors," Rue said, sounding a little bit envious. "You really weren't joking, about wanting me for an ally?"

"No, I meant it, of course. Come, sit down, let's eat." Katniss said.

The two girls shook hands, and soon they were seen to share their meal. The way they were sitting between on the grass between the trees, one could almost think that they were just having a picnic rather than being in the arena.

We learned from their continued conversation that living in District Eleven seemed to be as hard as living in ours. They were growing corn and fruit, but they weren't allowed to eat much of it, like Katniss and Gale risked whipping for poaching in the woods.

The two girls spread out their supplies and tried to divide evenly, and eventually Katniss brought out the glasses she had got, saying: "They are completely useless. They don't block the sun and they make it harder to see."

"But, these aren't for sun, they're for darkness!" exclaimed Rue. "Sometimes, when we harvest through the night, they'll pass out a few pairs to those of us highest in the trees, where the torch light doesn't reach. They let you see in almost complete darkness; try them tonight when the sun goes down."

"They have devices to let you see in darkness?" Wheat wondered.

"I believe that the Capitol has many devices and gadgets we can not even imagine" my father replied. "It is unfortunate that they are not sharing with the districts."

"Just imagine what you could do with such devices here," Wheat mused, "like looking around in the dark and look in other people's windows to see what they are doing in the dark..."

"Wheat!" my father admonished him, realizing the direction of his son's fantasies.

Meanwhile, cameras tried to get a view of other tributes. The male tribute from District Ten, who was shown to have a bad leg and thus hobbled a little, managed to hide in another area of the forest. He did not do real good, with poor food, but he had managed to avoid the attention from the Careers so far at least.

Then there also was the female tribute from District Five. After a close encounter during the initial bloodbath, she had escaped with a few bruises and also managed to avoid the Careers so far. She had also found a place to hide, and she changed spots frequently, finding plenty of water and some food. A few times she managed to steal supplies from other tributes when they were not paying attention; obviously she was able to move stealthily to some extent.

Close to the end of the day the camera moved back to Katniss and Rue, showing the two girls discussing sleeping arrangements; both girls preferred sleeping in a tree. Rue did not have a sleeping bag or even a blanket, and Katniss suggested to share hers, saying that the two slim girls would easily fit together.

Before they retired for the night, Katniss asked Rue about Peeta:

"You know the boy from my district, Peeta? I think he saved my life. But he was with the Careers. I am not sure what his intentions are."

"He's not with them now" Rue replied. "I've spied on their base camp by the lake. They made it back before they were all killed by the stingers, but he's not there. Maybe he did save you and had to run."

After some break Katniss mused: "If he did, it was all probably just part of his act. You know, to make people think he's in love with me."

"Oh," Rue said thoughtfully, "I didn't think that was an act."

"Of course it is," Katniss objected. "He worked it out with our mentor."

"Stupid girl" Wheat commented at home. "How can she not see that it was not an act?"

"Hey, don't call my sister stupid!" Prim protested vehemently.

"But, how can one not see that Peeta is totally serious about her?"

"I guess that some people are totally oblivious to such things. Katniss has always disregarded feelings like love, and she probably cannot easily understand that somebody may feel for her like that" my father explained, with Prim nodding.

In the arena, Rue apparently decided to change topic now: "I am curious about something else, too. When they were showing the reaping summaries from other districts, I saw you volunteering for your younger sister. This was so sweet!"

Katniss' face showed some concerns for a moment: "Primrose, yes. She's just twelve, like you, and I just could not let her go into the arena."

"That was really a sister's act of love then, right?"

Katniss nodded and whispered: "She is the person I love most on this world, after I had lost my father in that mine accident years ago."

Little Rue did not reply in words, but just moved next to Katniss and hugged her.

Prim had tears in her eyes again and also nodded: "Yes, this was indeed a sister's act of love."

At this time, dusk was there, the nightly anthem was played, and the viewing for the day ended.

"I am so glad that Katniss and Rue found each other" Prim was happy about that part at least. But of course, such an alliance could not last until the very end of the games. The sun had also gone down here in our district, and as the sky was free of clouds, Prim and I went for a quick walk before going to bed. We were in time to see the last little reddish afterglow from the sunset, and we watched together until the sky was fully dark and the stars came out.

Next morning's viewing – day eight in the games – first showed the Career group gathered around the Cornucopia. They had made themselves comfortable as much as possible, and for now they could afford to do so, as they had a lot of supplies around.

At this time, ten tributes were left alive: The boy from District One, both tributes from Two, the boy from Three, the girl from Five, the boy from Ten, Thresh and Rue, Katniss and Peeta.

Soon another camera showed Katniss and Rue sharing breakfast, and they were obviously talking about supplies. Rue had spied on the Careers a couple of times, and she reported that the Careers had a big stack of all kind of supplies at the Cornucopia. At home, we had seen this before on the screen. Katniss mused:

"Imagine the supplies were gone. How long would the Careers last? It is the Hunger Games, right?"

Rue objected: "But they are not hungry as far as we know!"

"No, they are not, and that is the problem. I think that we are having to do something about it, Rue. Today we take out the Careers' food!"

"How?" Rue wanted to know.

"No idea yet. Come on, we'll figure out a plan while we hunt," was the response.

So, Katniss either really did not know yet or she did not want to tell for the cameras.

However, during the hunting, Rue revealed that she had memorized more details about the Cornucopia environment during her hiding and spying over the last few days. She told Katniss some of what we as viewers already knew, about the boy from Three guarding the supplies while the Careers went hunting, probably doing this in exchange for his life. Rue did not know about the booby trapping, though.

"And the food's just out in the open?" Katniss asked.

Rue nodded, but Katniss was worried: "Something's not quite right about that whole setup, I think."

"I know" Rue agreed. "But I couldn't tell what exactly. Katniss, even if you could get to the food, how would you get rid of it?"

"Burn it. Dump it in the lake. Soak it in fuel. Eat it!" Prim՚s sister and Rue both giggled. "Don't worry, I'll think of something. Destroying things is much easier than making them."

One microphone caught them deciding to have a number of campfires lit to distract the Careers, so that they would hopefully all be somewhere else when Katniss executed her plan at the Cornucopia. It would be Rue's job to light the fires later on.

"Wow, this is a bold plan" Prim applauded her sister's smartness.

"Yes, it is" I confirmed. "But she needs to be careful, as she does not know about the explosives!"

The two girls in the forest were shown to divide their supplies and discussing last details, and Katniss moved on towards the Cornucopia, while Rue collected the wood for the fires.

Meanwhile, another camera showed the hiding male from District Ten, the boy with the injured leg. He had not fared too well so far, surviving on meager rations and not having any allies at all. While he walked through the forest, searching for food, his steps were heard by the Career hunting pack, who had gone foraging for prey in the forest, and several minutes later they confronted him. The Career pack only had three members now – Marvel from One and Cato and Clove from Two, not counting the boy from Three who guarded the supplies – but they were more than a match for the untrained boy, and it did not take long until the cannon went off and the hovercraft collected the lifeless body.

Thresh was getting comfortable in and around the big field of wheat he had found, and nobody had challenged him so far after the bloodbath. On the other hand, he had not made any attempt to go hunting for other tributes either. I suspected that he had, like Rue, a more peaceful attitude and probably did not enjoy hurting or liking others, but maybe he just played for time.

The girl from Five continued to sneak around; she found a little food in the wilderness and she also managed to steal supplies from other tributes a few times, always careful to take small amounts only so that it either went unnoticed or at least the others did not have a good reason to chase her.

Peeta, who had received a bad leg wound from Cato, had stumbled away from the other tribute after he had received the injury a few days ago, and he somehow managed to walk towards a stream. Due to his bad leg, this had taken him two days, but at least he had water now and a little food left in his pack. Apparently, he was not felling well at all, and he was unable to do much more than hiding.

At home we were very worried about him, of course, but there was nothing we could do at all.

Later on Katniss was shown at the border of the Cornucopia, watching while carefully hidden. She could not have known what was known to us and had been shown earlier – the Careers had booby trapped the supply stack, cleverly using some explosives from the starting circles.

While Katniss was obviously hesitating, Cato, who had been resting, suddenly jumped up and pointed towards the forest, where the camera briefly showed some smoke from Rue's first fire. The Careers started to grab their weapons, and they had some discussion on what to do. Some of them insisted that all of them should go to investigate, including the boy from Three, whereas others wanted the boy to stay here to guard the supplies.

"He's coming with us. We need him in the woods, and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch those supplies," Cato stated.

"What about Lover Boy?" the boy from District One asked.

"I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us" Cato replied. "Come on!"

When they entered the forest, Cato also said: "When we find her, I kill her in my own way, and none interferes." It was somehow clear to us that this was directed at Katniss.

For the next few hours, the cameras switched between the Careers searching the forest and Katniss lingering at the border to the Cornucopia.

"Why doesn't she do something?" Prim asked.

"I guess that she suspects something is wrong there" I replied.

Just when Katniss seemed to overcome her hesitation, another movement was visible, at some distance to Katniss. One of the other tributes was sneaking out of the forest and carefully walking towards the Cornucopia, and as soon as the face was seen, we recognized the female tribute from District Five, who had somehow gained the nickname 'Foxface'. The girl was, however, not approaching the center in a straight line, but deviating to the left and right, and close to the center, even hopped a few times, once she had examined the ground before her.

Clearly the girl either knew or suspected about the booby traps; maybe she had her sources about the way it was done or she could see where the ground was disturbed and a trap was buried. Anyway, she made it to the supply stack unharmed and grabbed a few things, while Katniss just watched. A few minutes later, Foxface was gone again, hidden between trees and bushes, and now Prim՚s sister made her move. Obviously she hesitated to mimic the other girl's approach and rather first examined one of the plates which had been used to elevate the tributes into the arena. From a safe distance she readied her bow and shot an arrow into a big net of apples which was placed almost on top of the stack. The arrow pierced the net, a second widened the gap, and after a third arrow was shot, the apples started to fall down, all around the stack, and finally spilling on the ground. For a moment nothing happened, but then the ground shook with a series of explosions; apparently the weight of the apples had been enough to not only trigger one, but most or even all of the buried explosives. Katniss was too close and was thrown back, fortunately on soft ground.

Prim squealed, and she pointed out: "Look, she is hurt – there's some blood coming out of her ear!"

Indeed, the camera zoomed in on her, and the explosions must have injured Katniss at least somewhat. Probably because of her injuries she took her time to retreat from the area, and the cameras showed the Career pack hurrying back to the Cornucopia; the loud noise from the explosions had alerted them, and they'd be arriving in mere minutes. Right before the first ones entered the clearing, Katniss had finally managed to hide herself, and when Cato saw the wreckage, the girl was hidden well enough.

Cato was obviously quite furious when he saw the supplies all destroyed. He and the boy from Three searched the wreckage, but it seemed like nothing had been left to use. Eventually the big tribute seemed to direct his ire to the poor boy who had been in charge of setting the booby traps. From Cato's point of view, it may have looked like the explosives had gone off by themselves and the wiring had been faulty, and in addition, the boy's anger needed to be vented. Before we fully recognized that happened, Cato took the male tribute from Three in a headlock from behind and snapped his neck. The cannon shot went off, the Careers retreated to the other side of the Cornucopia, and the corpse was recovered by a hovercraft.

The announcer providing some comments to the viewers in the Capitol and at the screens in the districts now stated that there were only eight tributes left in the game, and that teams were going to be sent out to the districts for family interviews. It had been quite some time that a tribute from our district had made it into the final eight, and thus no such interviews had been taking place here for many years; at least I could not recall any.

Prim got excited and curious:

"What does this mean – family interviews?"

My father knew a little more:

"Well, Primrose, there will be people asking questions to family members of the surviving tributes. They will be asking about what people know about them, how they like them, what they think about the game's progress so far, and much more."

"But, this means they will also ask me, right?" my girlfriend asked.

Dad nodded: "Yes, for sure. They will ask questions to you, to your mother, and to us Mellarks, and maybe to other people as well."

"Oh no – what will I say?"

The evening summary showed the faces of the tributes who had not survived the day, and in the bakery living room we tried to summarize the names of the remaining tributes:

"Well, there are Katniss and Peeta, of course, and Rue" Prim started.

"Thresh is also still alive and by himself" I added.

Wheat suggested: "The Career pack has Cato, Marvel and Clove. And Foxface is also still around somewhere."

"Yes, that's eight all together" my father confirmed. "Let's see how long those eight survive, and let's hope that Peeta and Katniss finally find and support each other."

We all agreed with that and went to bed after a quick supper.

The next day's morning viewing – day nine in the games – did not show anything spectacular in the last night's review. It appears that all of the eight surviving tributes had been quiet, with no kills during the knight. Rue was hiding close to one of the campfires she had lit as a distraction, and Katniss had found a safe place to sleep close to the Cornucopia. Peeta was still hiding close to the stream he had found, and nobody else had come even close to his position.

The few remaining Careers got up and started to go hunting, and a camera showed that they were heading in the direction of the campfires they had seen on the day before. Getting closer, they decided to split up; Cato from Two selected one of them, Clove from Two walked to the second, and Marvel, the boy from District One, proceeded in the direction of the fire Rue was close to.

Meanwhile, Katniss was also up and seemed to be eager to meet with her little ally again. The cameras showed a split screen view with both Marvel and Katniss approaching Rue's location, making it look like some kind of contest, which, unfortunately, it actually was.

Prim was getting jittery on my lap: "What if Marvel finds Rue first?"

Wheat stated plainly: "He will kill her for sure."

"Oh no!" my girlfriend replied.

"Maybe Katniss will be able to protect her" my father suggested.

The camera flashed back to the Cornucopia, and while we had assumed that nothing was left there, the girl from Five - 'Foxface' - was back, searching the debris. She seemed to be quite smart, and we could observe that she actually found a few small pieces which might be useful for her later on. Soon she was gone into the forest again, and the camera switched back to Katniss and Marvel. Prim՚s sister had used the opportunity to refill her water supply and wash herself at the stream and now walked on towards her ally's direction, or at least where she thought they would meet. Rue, though, had not yet moved back to their meeting point, so that Katniss was forced to wait.

This ended the morning show, and we could enjoy a long lunch break. The later afternoon viewing started on time to let us see Katniss finally finding traces of Rue's position, curiously by birds which had picked up Rue's special tune. Just when Katniss was real close though, Marvel got there first and found the little girl from District Eleven who had not paid attention to her environment for some time. Before she could react and hide, the boy threw a spear which pierced the girl's midsection, and she uttered a very loud scream.

Not only Rue screamed, but also Prim did when she saw that, almost like she got hurt herself. I could relate to that; Rue had grown to be our favorite tribute – after Katniss and Peeta, of course – and we all felt bad about that. Katniss was close enough to hear the scream and rushed there, and she killed Marvel with an arrow before he knew what happened. Rue had been fatally wounded, though, and there was nothing Prim՚s sister could do about it. Katniss took one of Rue's hand, and the little girl asked her:

"Did you blow up the food?"

Katniss nodded, and Rue continued in a whisper:

"You have to win!"

Katniss nodded again and replied:

"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now"

A cannon went off, for Marvel we guessed, as Rue was still talking.

"Don't go." Rue requested.

"Of course not. I am staying right here" the older girl assured her.

"Sing something?" Rue asked.

We all wondered if Katniss could recall a proper song, but she actually managed:

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise. _

_Here it's safe, and here it's warm. Here the daisies guard, you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you. _

Rue was barely breathing when Katniss was finished, and even here in the bakery's living room there was awed silence.

"Wow, this girl can really sing" Wheat could not resist the temptation to say.

"I know," Prim nodded, with tears in her eyes, "but she has rarely done that since our father died."

As soon as the next cannon was heard, Katniss was shown to decorate Rue's body with some flowers, and when the hovercraft approached to retrieve the body, Katniss stepped back. A few minutes later, when she was just about to look for a place to stay the night, a silver parachute floated down to her – a sponsor gift was sent.

"What are sponsors going to send her now?" I wondered.

"Strange indeed" my father said. "She is not seriously injured, she is not too hungry, and she has water. I don't have a clue either."

The camera showed Katniss unpacking the package, and there was a small loaf of bread inside, but neither looking like Capitol bread nor like the bread we sold. The announcer told us that this was bread from District Eleven, and it was obvious now that at least some people from that district had liked the way Katniss had treated their little girl and they wanted to honor her for that.

"My thanks to the people of District Eleven," Katniss was heard to say right into the camera, recognizing the symbol. The Capitol and the gamemakers were probably not so excited about that symbol. After all tributes were supposed to fight against each other and not showing affections.

No other killing than those of Marvel and Rue occurred for now, and at the end of the day, only six tributes were left alive.

This evening Prim was weeping a lot in my arms, and I could feel her tears dropping on my cheeks and neck for a long time; she had grown to love Rue and was devastated to know that Rue was now dead. From a realistic point of view, if we wanted one of our tributes to win, Rue would have to die sooner or later anyway, but this knowledge helped little to alleviate our pain.

_[Author's Notes: Rue sure could have been a wonderful friend to Prim, and I also hate to see her die.]_


	29. Chapter 29 - 74th HG: Katniss and Peeta

**Chapter 29: 74th Hunger Games: Katniss and Peeta**

[_Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

After a troubled night, with most of us being bothered with nightmares about Rue being killed in various and cruel ways, we shared breakfast, but could not really eat much – the appetite simply was not there.

Eventually we gathered for the next viewing session in the morning, to watch day ten in the games. Katniss slept in, apparently not feeling a need to do something urgently, and later on she sorted her supplies, from her own backpack, Rue's pack and Marvel's bag. While there was some food left, it would not last long, and the 'girl on fire' decided to hunt again. She was able to shoot three little birds – of a kind we did not recognize – and roasted them, together with some of the roots Rue had collected earlier.

"How does she dare to light a fire with that much smoke?" Prim got concerned.

"Good question" I replied. "Maybe she figures that the Careers are far away."

The camera confirmed that, showing the Career pack – now only Cato and Clove – being indeed far away, but Katniss could not really know that.

"Marvel was my sister's first kill, right?" Prim suddenly asked.

"Why, I guess you are right about that" my father confirmed.

The morning session ended, and right after that there was a knock at the door. Three people dressed in Capitol garbs were outside, one of them with a camera and microphone, and a young lady with pink hair asked: "Excuse me, but is this the Mellark bakery and residence?"

My father nodded and told them: "Yes, it is. You are here for the family interviews, correct?"

"Yes, we are – may we please come in?"

Dad invited them to our big living room and introduced the family. Getting to Prim, he said:

"The young lady here is Primrose Everdeen. Her mother is not feeling well, and as she has been a friend of the family for a long time, she stays with us for the duration of the games."

My father had warned us about how to behave and that we'd better keep certain things for ourselves. For instance, we had decided not to make my relation to Prim public at this time.

The Capitol people asked all kind of questions, mainly about how we felt with having our son/brother in the arena, and we answered with a mix of concern and pride:

"Of course it is an honor to have my son being selected as tribute" my father offered. "But, he is really good at baking and decorating, and he will be missed."

"So you do not expect him to win?"

"Well, have you seen the injury he received from Cato? How can he win with his leg being wounded like that?"

"But how did he get an 8 as training score?"

None of us really knew about that, but I took this one: "He is very strong, and he has been used to carry heavy stuff, like sacks of flour, around in the bakery for years; that was probably good enough to impress the jury."

They also asked more about Peeta՚s baking skills, and my father proudly elaborated on that, saying that his youngest son was better than himself already in cake decorations. The team also accepted the offer to get a quick tour of the bakery and sampled some cake cups.

The next question was about our mother, and Dad quickly replied that they were divorced and that they could probably find her with her sister at the other end of the district.

Prim was also asked, and she did not need to pretend so much, when she stated that she was really worried.

"Do you know how your sister managed to get a training score of 11?" was one of the questions addressed to her.

Prim shook her head: "No, that was a surprise for me as well as it was for you, I guess."

I added: "Actually, how she got an 11 is something we'd also like to learn, but we will probably never find out, I guess."

Finally the interviewers asked about Mrs. Everdeen, and we truthfully told them that she was staying with the Hawthornes, but was not feeling well. That was of course an issue the interviewers had encountered in years before in other districts, and they understood. With that, we were left in peace again.

The afternoon viewing was not very exciting, and it was interrupted a few times to show quick snippets from family interviews in other districts. Rue's parents were shown, and they were both in tears. They held each other in their arms and seemed to be as concerned about their daughter as we were for our tributes. In the background we saw some children who were probably Rue's siblings, but they were not shown close to the cameras.

The Career parents and family, on the other side, looked less worried and more proud, seeing their kids in the Games as a big honor, and they told the interviewers about that. For our district, we saw part of the interview with ourselves, with Prim՚s mother and with Gale Hawthorne. Apparently, some people had mentioned that he and Katniss were very close, and somehow Gale and Katniss were suspected to be cousins. Well, they looked like they were, and they also behaved liked they were.

At the end of the day, not much had happened, when suddenly an announcement was made to the tributes in the arena as well as to all viewers. Claudius Templesmith՚s voice boomed down from above the arena, first congratulating the six tributes who were still alive. But rather than mentioning a feast, which was quite common at this stage of the games, with some special gifts provided at the Cornucopia for those risking to go there, he mentioned something none of us had expected at all:

"Listen up everybody – there's been a rule change in the Games. Under the new rule, both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive."

After a couple of minutes the announcement was repeated, and we looked at each other.

"But, that implies" Prim started "that Katniss and Peeta can actually win together!"

A smile started top spread over her face, but I had to mention the bad news: "Yes, but so can Cato and Clove."

"Why did they make such a change in the rules?" my father wondered.

"Maybe the idea of our tributes being in love is liked a lot by the Capitol audience?" Wheat suggested.

"That may be true for Peeta, but I don't think that Katniss is in love wit him at all" Prim added, looking somewhat unhappy about it.

When we started to view the games on the next day – day 11 in the games – Katniss was about to leave the forest and moved towards the stream again. We assumed that she was now, with the change of rules, actively searching for Peeta. She found a few older bloodstains, but no sign of Peeta, and neither could we. The gamemakers had to know exactly where the boy was hiding, as all tributes had trackers implanted, but obviously they decided to keep that knowledge to themselves right now.

Eventually Katniss called out Peeta՚s name a few times, and just when she had climbed down from a rock towards the water again, there was a hoarse and weak voice heard from seemingly nowhere:

"You here to finish me off, sweetheart?"

Katniss turned around quickly, but did not see anybody. Just the mud, the plants, and some rocks.

"Peeta?" the girl whispered. "Where are you?"

There was no immediate answer, and Katniss slowly moved along the border of the stream. Suddenly the voice was there again:

"Better not step on me!"

The poor girl was startled when she heard the voice so close to her and jumped back. She looked around, but still could not see anybody. Then a pair of eyes opened and a set of white teeth were shown as well. The zoomed in camera showed the boy hidden in mud and leaves and barely visible at all.

"I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off." the voice, now seen to be to Peeta՚s, said. "Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying."

"You're not going to die," Katniss firmly told her fellow tribute.

"Says who?"

"Says me. We are on the same team now, you know, aren't we?"

"So I heard. Nice of you to find what's left of me."

Katniss got her water bottle out and gave him a drink.

"Did Cato cut you?" she asked.

"Left leg. Up high," was the quick reply.

"Let's get you in the stream, wash you off, so that I can see what kind of wounds you've got."

"Lean down a minute first. I need to tell you something."

Katniss leaned over and put one ear to his lips, and Peeta whispered:

"Remember, we're madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it."

It was really remarkable how sensitive the microphones were they used in the arena; we could even understand the whispering.

Prim squealed when she heard that, and Wheat hooted and shouted: "Way to go, brother!"

Katniss was shown laughing: "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." However, she did not make an attempt to follow up on that suggestion.

The girl now tried to help Peeta to get closer to the stream, and it was soon apparent that the boy had big trouble moving on his own. The distance was just a meter or two, but Katniss had to drag him most of the way, eliciting a few cries of pain from him when his wounds touched the ground.

"Look, Peeta, I'm going to roll you into the stream. It's very shallow here, okay?" Katniss suggested.

"Excellent" he replied.

"On three," Katniss stated."One, two, three!"

She manager one roll only, stopped by his shouts of pain.

"Okay, change of plans. I'm not going to put you all the way in. Let's get you cleaned up. Keep an eye on the woods for me, okay?"

It took her some effort to start cleaning my brother properly, before eventually his clothes became visible again under all of the mud and dirt. She unzipped and removed his jacket and had to cut off his undershirt with her knife, exposing a few bad bruises on his chest, along with four stings from the tracker jackers. Katniss managed to prop Peeta up against a bolder, while she continued to wash away all the traces of dirt from his hair and skin. Fortunately she had a few of the leaves around Rue had used earlier on her to treat the stings, and she applied most of those to Peeta՚s stings now. Then she browsed the first aid pack she had taken from Marvel and found a few pills she forced Peeta to swallow:

"Swallow these!"

When he had obediently follower her instructions, Katniss continued:

"You must be hungry."

"Not really. It's funny, I haven't been hungry for days."

Katniss offered him some of the food she had, including the meat from the birds, but he declined and turned away.

"That's not good at all!" Prim shouted. "He must be real hungry, and if he does not want to eat, he must be really sick."

"Peeta, we need to get some food in you" Katniss strongly suggested in the arena.

"It'll just come right back up" Peeta objected, sighing.

Eventually the girl managed to feed him a few pieces of dried apple at least, and he appreciated that:

"Thanks. I'm much better, really. Can I sleep now, Katniss?"

"Soon; I need to look at your leg first."

Prim' sister now removed Peeta՚s boots, socks, and finally his pants. The wound from Cato's sword was exposed, and it did not look good at all. There was blood and pus and swollen flesh, and we could only assume that it must be smelling real bad.

Prim had seen something similar before when treating bad wounds together with her mother, like when a coal miner had had a bad accident, and she told us her opinion in an almost professional way: "That does not look good at all. Unless the wound is treated properly quite soon, he is going to die, I am afraid."

In the arena. Katniss tried her best to treat Peeta՚s wound, including using the last few leaves she had from Rue, chewing them and applying them. A couple of times during her treatment Peeta asked for a kiss, but Prim՚s sister always changed the topic.

Later on, after some rest and when the girl had managed to wash the boy's clothes, Katniss insisted:

"Peeta, we've got to go now."

"Go? Go where?"

"Away from here. Downstream maybe. Somewhere we can hide you until you're stronger."

The girl helped my brother getting dressed again, and they tried to walk together. But he could not make it very far on his own, even supported by Katniss. Prim՚s sister looked around, searching for ideas about what to do, when she suddenly moved into a specific direction, half carrying the boy with here.

At first we could not see what she had in mind, but when the camera zoomed in, a small cave was revealed. She covered the cave floor with a layer of pine needles, unrolled her sleeping bag and shoved him into it.

"Katniss" he whispered. "Thanks for finding me."

"You would have found me if you could."

"Yes. Look, if I don't make it back..." he continued.

"Don't talk like that. I didn't drain all that pus for nothing." Katniss objected his direction of thinking.

"I know. But just in case I don't..."

"No, Peeta, I don't even want to discuss it."

"But I..."

At this point, Katniss suddenly leaned forward and kissed him, effectively stopping his words.

"Was that their first kiss?" Prim wondered.

"As far as I know at least the first one we could see" I replied.

"You're not going to die. I forbid it. All right?" Katniss offered once the kiss ended.

"All right," was the weak answer.

Right when Katniss got out of the cave to look around and check the environment, another silver parachute came gliding down, right into the girl's hands. Opening the container in the cave, she found a pot of hot broth.

"Why couldn't Haymitch send some medicine for Peeta?" Prim asked.

"At this stage of the games, this would probably be way too expensive" my father suggested.

"Peeta!" Katniss called out in the cave again, and when he was slow to react, kissed him awake. Holding up the pot, she told the boy: "Peeta, look what Haymitch has sent you."

With some effort, Katniss managed to get some of the hot broth into Peeta and took only a few sips for herself. Peeta dozed off again promptly, and Katniss fed herself with some leftovers from the birds she had caught earlier. Dusk came, and the regular evening updates showed that there had been no further tributes killed during that day. That ended the day's viewing, end we had a discussion at home in the bakery. Wheat started:

"I don't get it; why did Katniss kiss Peeta now and not before? Sure her feelings haven't changed that quickly?"

"Look," my father replied, "after the first kiss in the cave they got that sponsor gift with soup. Probably Katniss has realized by now that pretending to be in love with Peeta increases the chances to get gifts considerably. Maybe her feelings change, too, but I do not know."

"No, her feelings haven not changed, at least not much" Prim offered. "I can see it in her face that she is only pretending. Nobody else but me would probably know the difference, though."

The next morning – day 12 in the arena – quickly reviewed the night's events, but not much had happened. Katniss had, during the night, felt cold and moved into the sleeping bag next to Peeta. A few times she had done her best to refresh his bandages, but it was obvious that Peeta needed proper treatment sooner or later.

The camera showed glimpses of the other remaining tributes. Cato and Clove were spending most of their time at the Cornucopia, even though most of the supplies were gone. Thresh still had a nice home in the wheat field, and Foxface sneaked around. None of them had located Katniss and Peeta.

"How do you feel?" Katniss asked Peeta in the morning.

"Better than yesterday. This is an enormous improvement over the mud," he says. "Clean clothes and medicine and a sleeping bag... and you."

Prim giggled.

"No more kisses for you until you've eaten," Prim՚s sister said when the boy pressed his lips on her hand.

Peeta was fed again and offered to keep watch, noticing that Katniss was tired and exhausted. After some protests the girl agreed and promptly dozed off.

We were given a nice lunch break, and shortly after the afternoon viewing had started, Katniss woke up again. She complained about sleeping too long when she woke up and treated Peeta՚s wounds again. The camera showed a close up, and his wounds looked liked more infected and worse, but there was not really anything Katniss could do.

Once Katniss had improvised for food preparation – she did not want to light a fire and used some water heated by sunlight and some hot stones – she asked Peeta if he needed anything.

"No," he said. "Thank you. Wait, yes. Tell me a story."

"A story? What about?"

"Something happy. Tell me about the happiest day you can remember"

"Did I ever tell you about how I got Prim՚s goat?"

Peeta shook his head, and Katniss started to tell the story. Of course, here in the bakery we knew about that from Prim already. Gale and Katniss had been able to track down and kill a young buck and managed to somehow drag it to the Hob without being seen by anybody. Rooba had paid a lot of money for that, more than they'd ever had before. Katniss had encountered the 'Goat Man', and one of his goats had been injured, probably by a dog. Prim had been able to treat the goat and nourish it back to good health.

"Well, I knew that goat would be a little gold mine," Katniss concluded the story.

"Yes, of course I was referring to that, not the lasting joy you gave the sister you love so much you took her place in the reaping."

"The goat has paid for itself. Several times over.

"Well, it wouldn't dare do anything else after you saved its life. I intend to do the same thing."

Before they had a chance to continue that conversation, trumpets sounded in the arena, and the voice of Claudius Templesmith was heard. As happened quite frequently at that stage of the Games, there was an invitation to a feast. He added:

"Now listen. Some of you may want to decline my invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately. Each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance."

My father sighed and said: "Maybe our district is going to have some good medicine for my poor son."

A heated discussion was shown between Katniss and Peeta. The boy insisted that they either both go to the feast or none at all, but Katniss knew quite well that Peeta would not be able to go, and she did not want to drag him all of the time.

"What am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you die?" Katniss asked.

"I won't die. I promise. If you promise not to go" was the response.

Right after that, when Katniss checked the conditions outside of the cave, another one of the silver parachutes came floating down. At first the girl was excited, probably hoping for better medicine, but unpacking revealed a vial with sleep syrup. Katniss was able to recognize the fluid as they had a few times used it at home, Prim explained.

"What are they going to do with sleep syrup?" Wheat asked.

"You know, if Katniss is smart, she is going to drug Peeta with it, so she can go to the feast on her own" my father suggested.

That concluded this day's viewing.

Before we went upstairs, Prim asked:

"What exactly is a feast?"

My father replied: "For a feast, the gamemakers provide some additional supplies at or close to the Cornucopia. Some times this is just basic stuff, like food and water, and sometimes this is what individual tributes need most. For instance, there could be medicine for Peeta, or some tools for Thresh."

"That is nice of them" Prim smiled.

"Well, not really" my father objected. "The motivation is to get the few remaining tributes together and have fights between them, so that the audience is not getting bored. This is one way to get things happening again for them, and announcing such a feast happens in most the games once or twice."

"However," I added, "as the announcement said that there would be stuff desperately needed by the combatants, Katniss really should go; maybe there's indeed better medicine for Peeta."

The next morning's summary showed that Katniss had indeed managed to feed the sleep syrup into Peeta; he had probably not even recognized what it was he had been fed with. She had left him, camouflaged the cave, and packed a small backpack with what she needed. Right before dawn she was already sneaking towards the Cornucopia.

On that day, day 13 in the Games, the one with the feast, more tributes were likely to be killed. Right now, the tributes being still alive were our ones, Cato, Clove, Foxface and Thresh.

Dawn found Katniss safely hidden under a bush close to the Cornucopia. When the first sun rays pierced the clouds, there was some kind of disturbance. Like magic, a big round table rose from the ground, with four packs on it. Two large black ones were labeled '2' and '11', a smaller green one had the number '5', and a small orange one '12'.

Before we had time to register all of that properly, the camera showed somebody racing out of the Cornucopia, grabbing the green pack, and speeding off. Foxface must have been waiting there and had obviously reacted quickly, to make sure that she got what she needed without interference from other tributes.

Here in the bakery we discussed that Katniss was going to do. Was she going to also run for her stuff or wait? That question was answered soon; the girl also ran towards the table, but a knife came flowing in her direction. Just barely Katniss could deflect it with her bow. With a lightning quick reaction, she had her bow ready and sent an arrow into Clove, who had been the knife thrower. The other girl got the arrow into her left arm rather than her chest, as she had moved quickly, but at least that slowed her down. Right when Katniss had grabbed the '12' pack, though, another knife hit her, slashing her forehead and opening a wound which made some blood flow down her face.

Prim squeaked when seeing her sister injured, but of course there was nothing she could do.

Katniss staggered backwards, but somehow managed to send another arrow off. Nevertheless, Clove slammed into her and asked:

"Where's your boyfriend, District Twelve? Still hanging on?"

"He's out there now. Hunting Cato," Katniss replied, lying to Clove, and screamed: "Peeta!"

Clove jammed her fist into the other girl's windpipe, cutting off her voice.

When Katniss continued to struggle, Clove told her:

"Forget it, District Twelve. We're going to kill you. Just like we did your pathetic little ally... what was her name? The one who jumped around in the trees? Rue, right? Well, first Rue, then you, and then I think we'll just let nature take care of Lover Boy. You like that? Now, where to start?"

They exchanged a few more words, and Katniss was not able to do much, being held down by Clove sitting on her, but right when the other girl was about to start torturing her, Clove was somehow pulled away and screamed. Seemingly out of nowhere Thresh had appeared, holding Clove up. "Cato!" she screamed, and from far away, too far to help though, we could hear his response. Thresh hit Clove with a piece of rock, and while she was not dead yet, he turned around towards Katniss.

"What did she mean? About Rue being your ally?"

"I – we teamed up. Blew up the supplies. I tried to save her, I did. But Marvel, the boy from District One, got her first."

"And you killed him?"

"Yes. I killed him. And buried her in flowers. And I sang her to sleep."

The zoomed in camera showed tears of emotion in Katniss' eyes, and Thresh was apparently touched, too: "To sleep?"

"To death. I sang until she died. Your district... they sent me bread."

Thresh lowered the rock and pointed at her, almost accusingly: "Just this one time, I let you go. For the little girl. You and me, we're even then. No more owed. You understand?"

Katniss nodded, and now Cato's voice was heard again, much closer than before: "Clove!"

"You better run now, Fire Girl," Thresh said.

Katniss did as he suggested and ran into the woods, taking the orange pack with her. Thresh had taken both of the remaining backpacks and was gone, too, while Cato reached Clove and knelt beside her. However, the girl was basically gone by now, hurt too much by Thresh, and the cannon went off announcing her death. Thresh had also taken Cato's pack, and once the big boy had realized that, he went off after Thresh.

With obvious difficulty, due to exhaustion and her wound, Katniss made it back to the cave and checked the content of the backpack. There was nothing in it but a hard case with a hypodermic needle, and without hesitation the girl jammed the needle into Peeta՚s arm and slowly pressed down on the plunger. Once that was done, she dropped to the ground next to him, dozing off.

A brief sequence of Cato chasing Thresh was shown, but he was not getting close to him. This concluded the day's viewing.

When the screen went dark, I wiped some sweat from my forehead and said:

"Wow, that was quite an exciting day, and I am glad it's over."

"And with the special medicine," Dad added, "maybe Peeta՚s got a chance to survive now."

We gathered around the dining table for a quick supper and discussed the past events a little more, before we retired and went towards our respective beds. Overall, specifically with Peeta getting some special medicine, that day had not ended too badly.

_[Author's Notes: Quite exciting again; please review if you like it!]_


	30. Chapter 30 - 74th HG: Final Crisis

**Chapter 30: 74th Hunger Games: Final Crisis**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

The viewing for day 14 showed Katniss slowly waking up again, with Peeta talking to her. She asked how long she had been dozing, but Peeta said that he did not know. The medicine from the orange pack had apparently helped a lot, as the boy was clearly looking better this morning. He was of course a little angry about the treatment with the sleep syrup, but he also said:

"Look – this morning, almost all the swelling in my leg is gone."

They talked about what had happened at the Cornucopia and Thresh letting Katniss go.

"He let you go because he didn't want to owe you anything?"

"Yes. I don't expect you to understand it. You've always had enough. But if you'd lived in the Seam, I wouldn't have to explain"

"And don't try. Obviously I am not smart enough to get it."

"It's like the bread, you see. How I never seem to get over owing you for that."

"The bread? Which bread? From when we were kids? Really? I think we can let that go. I mean, come on, you just brought me back from the dead."

"But you didn't even know me at that time! We had never spoken to each other. Besides, it's the first gift that's always the hardest to pay back. I wouldn't even have been here to do it if you hadn't helped me then!"

Here in the bakery my father looked at Prim and asked if the owing issue was really such a big deal, and my girlfriend replied:

"For some Seam people it is, really, and I know that it is for Katniss. When she goes hunting with Gale, she's always careful about sharing the game in a fair way, and I think when she's trading, she always makes sure that the trade is justified."

"Oh yes" Dad confirmed. "I have tried a few times to give her something extra, but she almost always refused. She does not like gifts."

"Yes" Prim replied. "For her and many others, gifts look like charity, and this is not something desirable. Seam people are proud to manage on their own in a difficult environment."

"And I am glad that you are a little different, my love" I told my girlfriend. "I really like that I can give you some nice little gift from time to time."

Meanwhile, in the arena Katniss had changed the topic, and after a brief time of silence she sighed:

"I want to go home, Peeta!"

"You will; I promise."

How could he promise something like that? With his bad leg, he would not be able to help her much with that, or could he?

"But I want to go home now!"

"Tell you what. You go back to sleep and dream of home. And you'll be there for real before you know it. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered. "Wake me if you need me to keep watch."

"I'm good and rested, thanks to you and Haymitch."

Meanwhile, the camera switched focus and showed Foxface sneaking around. She had not found the place where Katniss and Peeta were hiding, but she had followed Cato and Thresh, trying to steal again, but without luck on this day. Thresh was back in his wheat field, and Cato stalked him, but did not try to stage an attack.

Back in the cave, Prim՚s sister must have realized they they did not have much food left and thus said after some time:

"Tomorrow is a hunting day!"

"I won't be much help with that; I've never hunted before."

"I'll kill and you cook, and you can always gather."

"I wish there was some sort of bread bush out there; the bread they sent me from District Eleven was still warm."

"Where did Thresh go? I mean, what's on the far side of the circle?" Katniss asked Peeta.

"A field. As far as you can see it's full of grasses as high as my shoulders. I don't know, maybe some of them are grain. There are patches of different colors. But there are no paths."

"I bet some of them are grain, and I bet Thresh knows which ones, too."

Indeed, he knew, as we had seen before, but of course that information was not accessible to Katniss and Peeta. After some more talking between them and a couple of kisses, the day ended in the arena, and so did the viewing.

The next day, the 15th in the arena, started with some more conversation between our two tributes.

Katniss asked:

"Peeta, you said at the interview you'd had a crush on me forever. When did 'forever' start?"

"Oh, let's see. I guess the first day of school. We were five. You had on a red plaid dress and your hair... it was in two braids instead of one. My father pointed you out when we were waiting to line up."

"Your father? Why?"

"'See that little girl? I wanted to marry her mother, but she ran off with a coal miner,', that's what he said."

At the bakery, we all looked at my father, and he looked a little bit embarrassed hearing about that again. But we could not ask him right now because we wanted to listen to Katniss and Peeta further.

"What? You're making that up!" Katniss claimed in the arena.

"No, true story. And I said, 'A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?' And he said, 'Because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen.'"

"That's true. They do. I mean, they did."

"So that day, in music class, the teacher asked who knew the valley song. Your hand shot right up in the air. She stood you up on a stool and had you sing it for us. And I recall that every bird outside the windows fell silent."

"Oh, please!" Katniss laughed.

"No, it happened. And right when your song ended, I knew – just like your mother – I was a goner. Then, for the next eleven years, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to you."

"Without success."

"Without success, indeed" Peeta confirmed. "So, in a way, my name being drawn in the reaping was a real piece of luck."

"You have a... remarkable memory," Katniss said slowly once she had tried to digest all of that.

"I remember everything about you. You're the one who wasn't paying attention."

"I am now!"

"Well, I don't have much competition here."

"You don't have much competition anywhere!"

They kissed again, but a few seconds later there was an odd sound from outside; Peeta glimpsed outside and retrieved another parachute. It had a larger container attached, and inside there was a lot of food, like fresh rolls, goat cheese, apples, and a tureen of lamb stew on wild rice.

"I guess Haymitch finally got tired of watching us starve."

"I guess so, too."

Both of them decided to take it slow with eating, as their stomachs had been almost empty for some time.

While they were eating and the camera switched to what the other tributes were doing, both Wheat and I urged father to explain, and he admitted:

"Peeta is right. Mabel – Mrs. Everdeen – was my first real love. For a while, when we were very young, it looked like she also loved me, but when she met the coal miner who could sing so that the birds stopped singing when he did, her heart was fully with him, and I did not stand a chance any longer."

After a couple of minutes he continued: "And when I see the two wonderful and beautiful girls the two of them got together, I cannot even feel sorry about that."

Prim was almost in tears when she heard that, and all she could do was to take my father's hands and shake it. So that's why he always seemed to be so close to Mabel; she had been his first love, and maybe he still had feelings for her. But wait a second – she had been a widow for a few years now, and he was single again; so I asked:

"Dad, with Mrs. Everdeen being a widow and yourself being divorced, are you going to be close with her again?"

"Son, this is quite a personal question" he responded. "All I am saying is 'maybe'."

The camera had started to show various scenes on what the other tributes were doing. Foxface stalked Cato and Thresh, and Cato waited for a good opportunity to kill the big boy from Eleven. After patiently waiting for hours, the opportunity came when Thresh was focused on preparing food and neglected to pay attention to his environment for a few minutes; Cato finally managed to get close and kill his opponent with his sword. Searching around, he found the backpack with his District's number on it, opened it, and found a body armor tailored for him.

"What is this for?" Prim asked.

"Well, using this, Katniss will have a hard time to kill him, unless she hits his face" I explained.

"That's not good!" Prim said, with concern showing on her face.

During the evening, Katniss and Peeta talked some more and did not move from their current location; with this scene the viewing was over for that day.

From now on, only four tributes were left alive – besides the two from our district, there still was Cato from Two, the only Career left, and Foxface from Five. Day 16 started in the arena, and the morning review and summary showed that not much had happened during the night. A short nighttime conversation between our two tributes was repeated:

"This means we're one step closer to District Twelve."

"It also means Cato will be back hunting us."

"And he's got supplies again; but, he'll be wounded, I bet."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because Thresh would have never gone down without a fight. He's so strong, I mean, he was. And they were in his territory."

"Good, the more wounded Cato is the better. I wonder how Foxface is making out."

"Oh, she's likely just fine. Also, probably be easier to catch Cato than her."

"Maybe they'll catch each other and we can just go home.

They were wrong about Cato being wounded, but they could have known that the big boy had been able to kill the male District Eleven tribute that quickly.

Real time viewing started, and the sun was rising over the arena.

Katniss shook Peeta՚s shoulder; his eyes open sleepily and when they focused, he pulled her down for a long kiss.

"We're wasting hunting time!"

"I wouldn't call it wasting. So do we hunt on empty stomachs to give us an edge?"

"No, we don't!" Katniss corrected. "We stuff ourselves to give us strength."

"Count me in," Peeta says.

Once they had eaten, they left the cave and looked around outside. They replenished their water supply and Katniss went to check her snares, coming up empty, though. Having Peeta move close to Katniss was obviously a problem; she had to remind him a few times that they needed to move more quietly, and when that did not work, suggested that he remove his boots., but after some time they decided to split up, with Peeta trying to collect some berries and stuff.

My brother was not paying much attention to his environment, and he missed to register that his pile of berries grew slower than it should. A few times Foxface՚s hand was shown to grab a handful and carry them away, and once she had enough, she started to eat, obviously finding it easier to steal than to pick on her own.

When Katniss and Peeta met again, the boy showed the berries:

"I've been down by the stream collecting berries. Would you care for some?"

Katniss indeed wanted to and walked over but stopped herself right before touching the berries.

"Oh no, Katniss, do not touch them!" Prim shouted. "Don't you recall those berries?"

"What's wrong with those berries? They look quite good." I told her. "Wait – are those the same ones you recognized as being deadly a few days ago?"

"Yes – they are nightlock berries, and they are very poisonous!" my girlfriend explained.

Her sister in the arena leaned down and scooped up a few, rolling them between her fingers. Apparently, something registered in her mind, but before she could tell Peeta, the cannon fired. A hovercraft appeared a hundred meters or so away. What was left of Foxface՚s emaciated body was lifted into the air.

Suddenly Peeta grabbed Katniss' arm, pushed her toward a tree and said:

"Climb! He'll be here in a second. We'll stand a better chance fighting him from above."

She stopped him: "No, Peeta, she's your kill, not Cato's."

"What? I haven't even seen her since the first day. How could I have killed her?"

Understanding now dawned on his face. Foxface had indeed not only stolen from the supply pile on the Cornucopia before it had been blown up by Katniss, but also from the berries my brother had collected, apparently not questioning the safety of eating them.

"I wonder how she found us; but, my fault, I guess, if I'm as loud as you say."

"And she's very clever, Peeta. Well, she was. Until you outfoxed her."

"Not on purpose. It does not seem fair somehow. I mean, we would have both been dead, too, if she hadn't eaten the berries first. No, of course, we wouldn't. You recognized them, didn't you?"

Katniss nodded: "We call them nightlock, and I saw them before days ago in the arena."

"Even the name sounds deadly. I'm sorry, Katniss. I really thought they were the same ones you'd gathered."

"Don't apologize. It just means we're one step closer to home, right?"

"Right – unless we've overlooked something, only Cato is alive besides us." Peeta said and tossed the rest of the berries into the woods, but not before Katniss grabbed a few of them and put them aside, telling Peeta that maybe they could also fool Cato with them.

Despite knowing Cato might be around, they lighted a fire and roaster the meat they had from rabbits and squirrels. For the night, Katniss wanted to climb a tree, but when the boy told her that he would not be able to with his wounded leg, they compromised and decided to head back to the cave, which implied a couple of hours of walking. Once there, they were both exhausted, and the day's viewing ended.

When the screen went dark, Prim sighed:

"Only three tributes left alive. Let's just hope that they can somehow get rid of Cato, and then they both can come home!"

The next day's brief review was indeed quick, and nothing had really happened during the night. Day 17 of the Games was on in the arena.

"How long do you think we'll have before the Gamemakers drive us together?" Katniss asked in the morning. "Well, Foxface died almost a day ago, so there's been plenty of time for the audience to place bets and get bored. I guess it could happen at any moment," Peeta replied. "Yeah, I have a feeling today's the day," Katniss nodded; "I wonder how they'll do it." As Peeta remained silent, she continued: "Well, until they do, no sense in wasting a hunting day. But we should probably eat as much as we can hold just in case we run into trouble."

Outside the stream, or rather what used to be the stream, was shown as completely dry. Obviously the gamemakers had decided to add another challenge. Katniss and Peeta slowly started to walk towards the Cornucopia, as the only other source of water they knew was right there, and the afternoon viewing showed them around there. They had refilled their water bottles from the lake and looked to see if Cato was there, but he was not.

Another camera showed Cato running, but not for hunting, but being hunted. A group of beasts, looking like large wolves, were chasing him, and he fled full speed towards the Cornucopia.

"What are those beasts following him?" Prim asked.

"Must be mutts, muttations, kind of artificial predators introduced there by the gamemakers to drive the last few remaining tributes together" my father told her. "They did something similar in a few games before, as I recall."

Around the Cornucopia, Katniss and Peeta enjoyed a few minutes of silence, only interrupted by mockingjays singing. When Cato and the beasts came closer, the singing got interrupted, though, and soon our two tributes could hear Cato's loud steps coming closer. Cato was heading straight for them, and we expected a fight to happen, although Cato was not wielding a weapon, but he ran right past them. As soon as Katniss and Peeta realized what was chasing him, they also turned around and ran.

While Cato quickly climbed the big Cornucopia structure, Katniss followed, and she started to nock an arrow to attack Cato, when she found Peeta needing her help. Shooting the closest mutt instead she helped the boy up, and they were safe for the moment. When they had calmed down and looked at the mutts, Katniss suddenly shouted: "It's her!"

At the same time a camera zoomed in on the mutts, and we could not fail to notice that at least some of them looked strikingly like dead tributes. Prim shuddered on my lap, and Leevy, who was watching with us today, ran off towards the bathroom. There was no time for us to digest that, though, as Cato had used the time where Katniss and Peeta were distracted and suddenly had his arms around the boy's neck. He threatened to throw Peeta down if Katniss shot him, and they had a stalemate. Eventually, Peeta managed to mark Cato's hand with blood, and just before the big boy had noticed that, Katniss shot his hand. He released Peeta and slipped on the blood on the horn, falling down to the ground. With the body armor he wore protecting him, he fought the mutts with a long knife he had, and he managed to kill some of them. He was overwhelmed by the rest of them, but still not dead; his body armor prevented severe injuries, even from the Mutts. Night descended on the arena and the viewing ended, keeping us in suspense.

During the following night, I had to comfort Prim several times. She was plagued by nightmares about the mutts looking like dead tributes, and a couple of times she was almost screaming. If I was honest, those images troubled me, too, and we both did not sleep too much. Holding each other very tightly helped a little, and in the morning, when we eventually woke up again in broad daylight, Prim told me:

"Rye, without you I'd have gone crazy during those games. I can't even start to tell you how glad and happy I am that you are here for me."

The others also looked like they had not had too much sleep. We only had a very small and quick breakfast, and we switched on the screen to see Day 18 dawning in the arena.

"Surely Cato will be dead now, and they have won, right?" Prim asked.

"Let's see" I said while switching on the viewer.

Indeed, Cato died in the morning and the cannon went off. A hovercraft came to retrieve his body, but there was no announcement about the winners.

"What are they waiting for?" Wheat asked. "They have won the Games!"

My father shook his head: "I do not know. I hope that there is not going to be a nasty surprise."

Unfortunately, it turned out that he was right suspecting something, as after some time there was an announcement being heard:

"Greetings to the final contestants of the 74th Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

"They cannot do that! This is totally unfair!" Prim shouted, with anger written on her face.

In the arena, Katniss and Peeta started debating on who was supposed to live, both of them offering to allow themselves to get killed in order to save the other.

Suddenly Katniss seemed to have an idea, and her fingers fumbled with the pouch on her belt. Peeta noticed what she was getting out and his hand clamped on her wrist: "No, I won't let you."

"Trust me," she whispered. His grip loosened, and Katniss got the remaining nightlock berries out, dividing them between Peeta and herself. He understood now. And Katniss suggested: "On the count of three?"

Peeta kissed her one last time and nodded: "On the count of three, yes."

Both of our tributes stood, their backs pressed together and their empty hands being locked.

"Hold them out. I want everyone to see." Peeta suggested.

The cameras clearly got that, and everybody could see the dark berries in their hands. The counting started: "One".

Nothing happened, and then there was "Two".

Still no reaction from the gamemakers, and we heard "Three".

Prim now used her hands to cover her eyes and started to sob. Both tributes lifted their hands and pushed the berries into their mouth, when suddenly the loudspeakers crackled with the voice of Claudius Templesmith:

"Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you – the tributes of District Twelve!"

Katniss and Peeta both spewed the berries from their mouth. Peeta pulled Katniss to the lake where they both flushed their mouths with water, and he asked: "You didn't swallow any?" The girl shook her head. Whatever else they talked about was drowned by the roar of the crowd in the Capitol that they were playing live over the speakers.

A hovercraft showed up and dropped two ladders. Peeta apparently had a hard time getting on one, and even once Katniss helped him, he failed to climb up higher. However, some kind of force field held him there, and both tributes were pulled up on their ladders, with blood still dripping down from Peeta՚s leg wound.

At home in the bakery we had all stood up, and once the hovercraft had collected the two victors, we were jumping around like crazy, even my father.

Today we were going to celebrate, and I prepared a feast at home. Prim was sent to the Hawthorne home to ask her mother if she wanted to join. The girl had visited her mother a few times during the Games to see how she was doing, and today, with the victors being confirmed, she almost looked like new and promised to come.

The mood at the bakery was totally different now. Rather than brooding and worrying, we rejoiced and were happy again, and we were looking forward to the time when Katniss and Peeta would come home.

This was going to be exciting, as they were entitled to move into special homes, the Victor's homes, in a separate corner of the district. Those homes were rumored to be very special and luxurious, but Haymitch Abernathy was so far the only living person in our district occupying such a home, and he usually did not entertain visitors, although I had heard some rumors of some nightly clandestine activities in and around his house.

For now, though, we'd have to wait a few more days, and slowly our behavior got back to normal, while our nerves settled down. The bakery was open for business on the next day, and I reported back to work at the Justice Building. Right when he came in, Mayor Undersee shook my hand and congratulated me for my brother's victory. "This is a great time for our district" he said, beaming. "I do not believe that there ever was a time for two tributes to win together, and it has been a long time for one of ours to win."

A day after the victory I took Prim to our meadow once more, and I had brought a bedroll so that we could spent the night there, taking advantage of the warm and dry summer weather. We had a nice picnic in the evening, and we were both able to really relax again after two weeks of being on the edge. When we laid down and darkness dropped around us, I repeated the words Katniss had used in the arena, although my voice could not compete with hers of course:

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise. _

_Here it's safe, and here it's warm. Here the daisies guard, you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you. _

Prim had her head on my chest and liked it; she whispered back: "And here is the place where I love you, too."

After the exciting and stressful weeks before, we could finally relax again, and for the first time in many days, we got to sleep without any major worries. A cloudless sky, comfortable temperature, almost no wind, the smell of grass, trees and flowers around us, and of course, most importantly, my wonderful girlfriend in my arms – at least for this night, life could not get any better.

_[Author's Notes: The last few chapters had a lot of dialogue close to canon. This is going to change now again, and I will make up some events. Actually, I won't have a choice, as the first months after the victors come home are barely covered by the books.]_


	31. Chapter 31 - 74th HG: Victor Interview

**Chapter 31: 74th Hunger Games: Victor Interview**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

Four days after the end of the Games, the victor interview was to be aired, and we all made ourselves comfortable in the bakery's big living room, looking forward to seeing our hopefully well restored and healed tributes.

Wheat was curious: "Do you think that they were able to patch Peeta together properly?"

"The Capitol doctors can do amazing things" Prim stated, "or so I have heard from my Mom a few times. Let's see and find out."

The show started right on time, and Caesar Flickerman welcomed the audience. First the prep team was introduced to everybody, and Caesar explained that Flavius, Venia and Octavia had been preparing Katniss for all of the shows. We were not fully sure what 'preparing' actually implied, but Caesar briefly touched on topics like manicure, pedicure, makeup, and such. Portia was named as one of Peeta՚s prep team, and Cinna՚s name was mentioned as being in charge of all. Finally, Effie Trinket was shown together with Haymitch, and their roles as escort and mentor, respectively, were highlighted.

The audience roared, and we could now see an elevator raising Katniss to the stage, which Peeta had stepped on only moments earlier. This must have been the moment the Capitol citizens all waited for, seeing the loving couple from District Twelve.

And indeed, Prim՚s sister did not disappoint and launched herself right into Peeta՚s arms, making my brother smile even more than before. He needed to step back a little to keep his balance, and this was when we noticed that he was holding and using a glittering cane in one hand.

"What is that cane for?" Wheat asked, showing some concern.

"Not sure" my father replied. "Maybe the time was not enough to get his leg fully working again; we will sure find out later."

When Katniss and Peeta kissed longingly, the audience almost went crazy, and for a few minutes nothing else but clapping, shouting, yelling, hooting and wolf whistling could be heard. Caesar did not even try to interrupt this scene.

While the kissing endured and the camera zoomed in very close, I noticed Prim looking up at me a few times; she seemed to have noticed something I may have missed, but she did not mention anything.

Maybe ten minutes later Caesar tapped Peeta on the shoulder, in an attempt to continue the show, but found himself pushed away, and the audience went even more crazy, if that was possible at all. Eventually Haymitch intervened and managed to push the two victors towards a small couch, which had been placed there as a replacement for the usual victor's chair. Katniss not only sat down next to Peeta, but kicked off her sandals, pulled her feet up, and snuggled so closely with him that she almost sitting on his lap. The audience seemed to approve, and a lot of shouting and hooting came up again.

After a few words of introduction from Caesar, the show kicked off with a review of the Games. For almost three hours, the Capitol audience and everybody in the districts was forced to endure the summary. Of course it was not possible to show all of the critical and exciting scenes from the Games in three hours, but the show obviously focused on the two lovebirds, and the majority of the summary concentrated on what they had been doing and saying. A smaller image in a corner of the screen was dedicated to show Katniss' and Peeta՚s live reaction to the review, and a few times this small image occupied the entire screen. While Peeta՚s facial expression was fixed to smiling, Katniss seemed to be troubled by some scenes she had to see again. She was almost in tears seeing snippets from her last few hours with Rue again, and she blushed a few times during some scenes later on with Peeta in and around their cave.

"How does Peeta manage to keep smiling all of the time?" Prim wondered.

"I get it" I told her. "He is still alive, and he has his love tightly in his arms; that must be more then good enough to overcome all worries and bad memories."

Prim smiled, understanding that quite well. She had been standing around for some time, getting a little bit antsy during some of the scenes, but now she climbed back on my lap, pulled my arms around her, turned her head around and told me: "Of course; that makes sense. I am doing the same now to forget my worries."

My father and brother laughed a little when they heard that, and I was totally happy about her decision, specifically as it worked in both directions for us – her being on my lap also made the show easier for me to endure.

When the review was almost over and had reached the scene with the poisonous berries at the end, there was total silence in the auditorium.

However, the show did not end with the victory announcement, but they broadcast a last scene with Katniss, already in the hovercraft, pounding on the glass door which separated her from the team taking care of Peeta. She had screamed his name a few times, and this ended the show; the lights came up again, and the anthem played.

President Snow slowly rose from his seat, and a little girl carried a victor's crown on a velvet cushion.

"How is this going to work with one crown and two victors?" Prim was curious. "Shouldn't they have two crowns rather than one?"

"No clue" I responded. "Let's find out."

There was some murmuring in the audience, obviously they also recognized the dilemma.

President Snow did the unexpected and tore the crown in two halves, putting each half on one of the heads. A camera zooming in on the President showed a very cold looking face, and it was very apparent that Snow was not happy at all. I had a feeling that our two victors were in trouble, although I was not sure for what reason.

Finally the show was over, and Caesar Flickerman reminded all of us to be there again tomorrow for the second part of the interview.

When Prim and I were in our bed again later in the evening and the light was out, my girlfriend had a question:

"Rye, when the camera was showing a closeup view of Katniss and Peeta kissing, something looked odd."

"What was odd about it? It seemed to be very enthusiastic kissing to me."

"It sure looked like that. No, what I am curious about is that they looked to have their tongues in each other's mouth while kissing."

Indeed that scene had showed some hints in that direction, as it had been a very closeup view. I recalled that my kisses with Prim so far had been much more moderate, and as far as I knew she had not been exposed to that kind of intimate kissing yet.

"I agree that it looked like that."

"You do? But this is so weird! Why would they be doing this?"

While I did not really have any personal experience with that kind of intimate kissing, I had a brother who did – Wheat – and thus I was not completely ignorant of the concept:

"Prim, actually, this is something lovers are usually doing. According to what I heard, it is supposed to be quite enjoyable."

"Are you serious? Having another person's tongue in your mouth? Yuck!"

I decided to not pursue the topic any further at this time; I would have plenty of opportunities to change her mind in the next few years, I expected; whenever she was ready.

The next day's show was obviously broadcast from a much smaller room, without a big local audience. Caesar Flickerman welcomed everybody watching and did a little bit of small talk with Peeta. I did not know that my youngest brother was so good in doing that, but apparently he and Caesar got along very well with each other.

A few minutes later Caesar started to ask specific questions, though. First he came back to the love confession from Peeta during the earlier interviews and from the cave:

"Well, Peeta, we learned from you that you have been in love with your girl for many years, since you were five years old, right?"

Peeta nodded with a big smile: "Indeed so; from the moment I laid my eyes on her."

Caesar turned to Katniss now: "Katniss, that must have been so exciting for you, and there was also a lot of excitement for the audience seeing you eventually falling in love with your boy. When did you notice that you were in love with him?"

"Oh, that's a hard one..." Prim՚s sister replied, apparently not fully sure how to address that question.

"Well, I know when it hit me." Caesar claimed. "The night when you shouted out his name from that tree!"

Katniss nodded: "Yes, I guess that was it. I mean, until that point, I just tried not to think about what my feelings might be, honestly. I had decided much earlier in my life that I'd never fall in love, and now things were so confusing; it only made things worse if I actually cared about him. But then, in the tree, everything changed."

"Why do you think that was?" Caesar asked.

"Maybe... because for the first time... there was a chance I could keep him."

At this time, Caesar pulled a big colorful handkerchief out from a pocket; he was apparently quite moved.

Katniss used the opportunity to address my brother: "So now that you've got me, what are you going to do with me?"

Peeta՚s reply was quick and simple: "Get you to a place where you can't get hurt."

The statement was followed by a hot and long kiss, and the few people in the room sighed and hooted.

Caesar asked about Peeta՚s leg injury, Katniss' fire burns and tracker jacker stings, and finally he asked:

"Peeta, how is your new leg working out?"

There was silence in the interview room for a few moments, and Wheat asked in the bakery:

"New leg? What is he talking about?"

Katniss was not shy and pulled up the bottom of Peeta՚s pants, which covered the leg which had been injured. The camera zoomed in right away, and we could all see the metal and plastic of an artificial leg replacing the skin of a natural one.

"Oh no! My poor boy!" Dad exclaimed.

"No one told you?" Caesar gently asked Katniss, who replied by shaking her head.

"I haven't had the chance," Peeta admitted with a shrug.

"It's my fault," Katniss claimed, "Because I used that tourniquet."

"Yes, it's your fault I'm alive," Peeta told her.

"He's right," Caesar nodded. "He'd have bled to death for sure without it."

Katniss buried her face in Peeta՚s shirt, and Caesar granted them a quick break.

Later on, there was another critical question:

"Katniss, I know you've had a shock, but I've got to ask this. The moment when you pulled out those berries. What was going on in your mind?"

The girl need some time to ponder her response before she told him:

"Well, you know, Peeta refused to kill me and I refused to kill him. At that time I also realized that I could not live without him any longer. Thus, the berries seemed to be the only choice – either die together or live together."

With the statement, the interview was over.

Two days later the big day was there; the train with the two District Twelve victors was scheduled to arrive. None of us had slept much, as we were so excited. Peacekeepers told us that we'd have to wait when the train arrived, as the victors would be guided to their new homes immediately after arrival. Only once they had settled in, we'd be allowed to visit, or so we were told.

Even if we had tried, we wouldn't have been able to get even close to the platform once the train arrived, almost on time. The area was completely fenced off by Peacekeepers, and we saw from a distance how Katniss and Peeta with their respective teams were getting into a big car, to drive them off towards the Victor's Village. As we had been warned, we did not even try to get there and rather returned to the bakery. Prim and myself made a detour into the Seam to pick up her mother; Katniss was expected to look for them first in their Seam house, and they wanted to be there for her when she came. I left a small food basket with them and made my own way to the bakery.

Dusk was already close, when an exhausted and not quite so happy looking Peeta arrived at the bakery and opened the front door. My father hugged him first, without many words, and Wheat and I followed. He said that he could not stay long as he was expected to stay the night at his new home, but he promised:

"As soon as I have settled and reviewed the supplies, I am going to invite you into my new home. I will let you know in a few days."

We did not bother him with too many questions and let him go.

On the next morning I visited my girlfriend, who was back at the Everdeen home by now, and I asked if Katniss had showed up the night before. She confirmed that, but could not add many details; same as Peeta, Prim՚s sister had also been supposed to spend the night in her new home, and she had not stayed long.

Okay, so we needed to wait a few days until the two victors had settled in; this we could do.

I was busy with work again; school holidays were a good time to get some repairs done in and around the school building, and once again I spent lots of time there together with Mark. Gale could not help us any longer, as he had graduated from school and was now working in the coal mines.

Peeta was good on his word and we received an invitation for Friday evening; he was very specific about not inviting Prim, and he said that he'd explain. That was odd, but all right, there must have been a reason for that.

My youngest brother was not quite as good in cooking as I was, and he asked if I could come early to help with the food preparations. Of course I did that, and the first few minutes I needed to take to admire the nice big kitchen he had, with high quality appliances. There also was a larder, almost as big as my room above the bakery, and it was full of fine goods. We selected lamb stew to get prepared, with sides of long grain rice and mixed vegetables, and I got to work.

When the rest of the family arrived on time, we sat around Peeta՚s big dining table and I served the food. Once we were done eating the main dish and had ice cream from my brother's big deep freezer for dessert, Peeta started to talk. First he outlined some of the events in the Games and before, but avoided talking much about Katniss.

Finally Dad needed to ask: "And how are things between you and Katniss? Is she going to move in with you?"

Peeta paled visibly, and after a few minutes he told us: "The thing is, we talked in the train going home. Katniss told me that the show of affection towards me, both in the cave and during the final interviews, was an act, or at least most of it."

"What – an act?" Wheat asked. We barely could believe that, although Prim had hinted in that direction.

"Haymitch had briefed her, and she got the clear impression that pretending to be madly in love would increase the sponsor gifts a lot, and so it happened. She played along to help herself and also partially for me, but only as a fellow tribute from the same district. When we were in the cave, I started to believe that she had real feelings for me, and in particular during the final interviews, when she cuddled so nicely with me. You saw that, right?"

"Yes, we saw that. And you are sure that's not real? It sure looked like it was!"

"Well, I did not know that she can act like that. At first I thought it's real, too, but her body language was not quite right about all of that, and I felt that. When we were on the train home, she finally admitted about the acting."

"You know," Peeta continued, "President Snow was not quite happy about the ending of the Games. He saw the stunt with the berries as a sign of revolution rather than a sign of love, although even Katniss probably did not intend it to be one. If Katniss fails to play along and does not show a lot of love and affection towards me, Snow might retaliate."

"Retaliate how?" my father asked.

"I do not know" my youngest brother replied, "but I am worried."

We were silent for a few minutes.

"Maybe she just needs time to understand her own feelings?" I asked.

"Maybe so" Peeta replied. "We will have to wait and see."

"Rye" he addressed me specifically, "please do not mention the issue with Snow to Prim, and best also do not mention her sister's acting. Katniss may confide in Prim anyway, but she needs to hear her sister's own version first."

I nodded, understanding the wisdom in that.

Once we had parted for the night, we came back on Saturday, and Peeta gave us the grand tour of the house.

On Sunday, I met Prim again, and she and her mother had been shown around Katniss' home a few days before. For some time, my girlfriend could not stop talking about all the wondrous things they had been shown in and around the house, and I was happy to listen. Obviously, Katniss had not talked much about her feelings towards my brother, although her mother might have been able to read between the lines.

I also told her about Peeta՚s house, and they were probably very similar inside. However, Peeta՚s house had something the other houses did not have: a greenhouse in the back yard. It covered an area of easily 100 square meters or maybe even more; some glass windows could be opened, and there was special light and special heating. Part of the area had multiple levels for smaller plants, and the center area was much higher than the rest and offered itself for one or two smaller exotic trees. What the greenhouse did not have in it were any plants, but Peeta had been told that he could order some from the Capitol. Prim was quite enthusiastic when she learned about that:

"If Peeta allows, we can grow more vegetables during winter, and maybe some herbs and medicinal plants."

"I am sure that Peeta will be okay with that; he knows that we both like gardening, and he probably hopes that we do the work for him so that he can enjoy fresh vegetables in winter."

"True" I nodded, "but he will certainly allow us to make our own selection."

I touched the topic with Peeta on the next day, and he reacted exactly like I had expected:

"Yes, of course. I do not have what is called a 'green thumb', and I'd welcome Prim and you to work the greenhouse. Part of the area you can use for whatever you want, like medicinal plants and stuff. And of course I will not need to eat all of the vegetables, there will be plenty left for our family, the Everdeens, and maybe more. And, of course, Prim՚s best friend Lizzy is also welcome here to help, if she wants. Actually, it was you guys I had in mind when I selected the house with attached greenhouse."

My brother really had a good heart, and I was quite proud of him.

As I heard a few days later, Katniss had offered her mother and sister to live with her in the victory village. Both had declined, though. For Mrs. Everdeen, she'd be too far away from the Seam, where her patients needed her, and Prim՚s way to school would be too long. However, both of them got a room assigned anyway, at least for occasional visits and taking advantage of certain amenities, like a shower.

In a similar way Peeta offered rooms for Dad, Wheat and myself, but we declined to move in as well. Dad and Wheat needed to be close to the bakery, and for me the distance to the Justice Building was too big. However, we accepted getting room assigned for visits, too, and we did plan to visit Peeta frequently.

Next Friday night, when Prim was staying with me again for the night, she sighed, cuddled up to me and told me happily:

"I am so glad that the games are over and we have our loved ones back. I so hope that I will never have to experience anything like that again."

She could not have known that next year's Hunger Games would bring big worries again.

_[Author's Notes: Indeed – after the Games is before the Games. BTW, I read about a greenhouse behind or attached to Peeta՚s Victor Home in another fan fiction story, but I forgot which one that is. If you know about that story, please let me know so that I can credit the author.]_


	32. Chapter 32 - Peeta's Greenhouse

**Chapter 32: Peeta's Greenhouse**

_[Summer of 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

The next few weeks and months were happy ones for our district. Not only did citizens rejoice in having two victors from our own district, but also everybody got a benefit from the regular bonus supplies which were going to be delivered on a monthly basis; this was supposed to last for a year, until the next games started. The supplies were not really that much, but at least enabled even the poorest Seam people to eat something else but food made from tesserae once or twice a week. Besides that, we also hoped to get more practical stuff, like new and more sturdy work clothes for the miners.

Prim and Lizzy started to spend a lot of time in Peeta՚s greenhouse. They wanted to make sure that it was at least partially set up and filled with plants before winter was coming, and although winter was still a few months in the future, they worked a lot, most of the summer holidays actually. My girlfriend was getting so busy there that once or twice I complained about it and said that she had so little time for me nowadays; hearing that, she simply suggested that I help working there, and a few times I did. Working with plants was not normally my favorite pastime, but at least I had my girlfriend next to me, and she enjoyed being able to teach me in gardening.

A few times, when we worked together, we managed to get some soil and mud on our clothes, and occasionally this escalated into a friendly mud fight between Lizzy, Prim and me, usually with the two girls being allied against me. Naturally, most of the time all three of us ended up rolling on the ground, sometimes in a big heap together, and we got very dirty, but happy, and those fights made me feel like a kid again. After those fights, we took turns to take a shower in one of Peeta՚s guest rooms before we left for the day.

As a victor, Peeta was not allowed to work in the bakery any longer, but sometimes he volunteered, which was tolerated if he was not getting paid. Philip, the apprentice, learned more about decorations, and soon he could do some of the simpler ones on his own; Peeta continued to teach him, but at least for the time being none of us came close to him in decorating. Dad was a little bit concerned about the long term business outlook; Peeta was supposed to take over the bakery, but now he was not allowed to do so; neither Wheat nor I had the real 'baker's genes' in us, and both of us pursued other options anyway. However, as what Wheat and Leevy were doing with crafting was not really an official business, maybe they would eventually run the bakery officially and do the crafting as a hobby; I could help out from time to time, and Peeta could still do occasional decorations for free. It was not perfect, but it might have to do.

Neither Katniss nor Peeta talked much about their relationship, and they were rarely seen together, which was kind of odd after the closeness they had demonstrated in the arena and during the victor interview before. Prim told me one day when we spent a few hours on our meadow:

"I start getting asked by people why Katniss and Peeta do not go out more together, and if there is something wrong."

"Yes, so am I" I replied. "What do you tell them?"

"I always tell them what Katniss asked me to say – that they need time to recover from the exertion of the last weeks and months."

"That's probably the best to say" I responded. "I tell something similar when being asked."

"But it's somehow wrong, isn't it?" my girlfriend continued. "When you have been through the Games together and won, won't you be able to recover best by being together? I surely would want to be with you as much as possible, and recovering with you would be so much better than trying to do it on my own!"

"I am quite sure that Peeta would actually love to spend much more time with Katniss, but your sister is keeping her distance, or at least that's what I think."

"Yes, she is, indeed, but she still has nightmares almost each night."

"So does Peeta, I think."

"It's a pity that Katniss does not realize that Peeta is really good for her."

"I agree. But, Prim, you need to understand that love can be tricky at times. What the two of us have experienced, with liking each other right from the start and growing together like we have done, does not happen for everybody. A lot of times when somebody falls in love this is unrequited and unhappy, I believe."

My girlfriend nodded and told me:

"Yes, this is what I have also heard a few times. I am so glad and happy that we found each other and that I don't have to worry about all of that with you, my love."

With those words she climbed on my lap, wrapped her skinny arms around my neck, rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes, once again feeling totally at ease. And yes, getting together like it had worked for Prim and me was a gift and indeed something to be grateful for.

About a month after the victors had come home the first of the bonus supply trains was supposed to arrive. The event was scheduled for a Sunday, so that everybody could attend. All businesses and the coal mines were closed, and Katniss and Peeta were requested to hand out the packages personally.

As usual, the train was late, but not too much. First off were a small group of people with cameras, and they placed themselves around the train, before other doors opened. Katniss and Peeta were now arriving from the Victors' Village, and they stepped close to one of the big doors opening into a larger cargo car. Helpers from inside pushed packets out, and Katniss and Peeta started to hand them out to district citizens, who were already waiting in line. For a few minutes this seemed to work quite well, and the procedure was apparently recorded.

Some time later, though, one of the Seam men, who was supposed to received a packet from Peeta, refused to accept it and shouted out: "I do not take charity from a Merchant!"

Before Peeta had a chance to react, the peacekeeper next to him snorted: "Your choice – take it or leave it."

The man left without further comments. Most district residents had made quite some progress overcoming the rift between Seam and Merchant, but some had not; this would take much more time, I thought.

In a similar way, a few Townies, who were supposed to get their parcels from Katniss, snorted and made some comments about 'dirty Seam girls'.

Close to the end of the event, another resident came back to the train and shouted:

"What have you given me? This is poor quality, and not much better than tesserae! Why does the Capitol keep all good stuff for themselves?"

As the man continued to shout and complain, he was taken into custody by the peacekeepers quickly, and two of them lead him off. Prim and I looked at each other, but did not say anything. Peeta sighed and continued to hand out parcels, and Katniss looked a little bit uneasy.

Later on, when we were at home at the bakery, Prim and her mother joined us and we opened the two big family packets we had received, to share what we needed. Some of the stuff in there was helpful and nice, like some sugar, a few pieces of fresh fruit, and such. Some others, like the flour, was of pretty bad quality, and certainly inferior to what he had at the bakery. Part of a bread loaf was stale and moldy, and I could understand why that man at the train station had complained.

"It's a shame that they not even manage to properly prepare the special packages" my father sighed.

"Indeed it is" Mabel Everdeen agreed. "They obviously do not respect victors any longer."

"Have they ever respected victors from the districts?" I asked.

"Not those from ours at least, I think" Dad replied.

"By the way" Prim changed the topic, "have you noticed that Katniss and Peeta really tried to keep distant from each other today?"

"Yes, I have noticed" I told her. "A couple of times one of the camera team tried to prod them to hug and kiss and such, but they refused."

"What a pity" Prim said. "They still feel uneasy with each other, I guess, even after the events of the last games."

"Or maybe because of the events during and after the recent games?" I mused. "Do we really know what happened, specifically behind the scenes?"

On one nice and sunny day Prim told me with some excitement, when we had some time off together on the meadow:

"Guess what, this morning I spent a couple of hours at Katniss' new home, and when I was changing clothes in my room there I heard Gale coming up outside."

"Well, Gale is her hunting partner, and he sure also wants to talk to her from time to time." I replied.

"Sure, but not that kind of talk!"

"So, what happened?"

"I felt a little bit bad about eavesdropping, but I just could not resist the temptation" my girlfriend continued. "Gale was standing just below my partially opened window, and Katniss came out to meet him. They did not talk loud, but I could hear almost everything."

"So?" I prompted her.

"It seemed like this was the first time the two of them really had a chance to talk after my sister had come home from the games" Prim told me. "Gale had just been hunting, and first he told her that he missed his hunting partner. Katniss hinted that she might go hunting again in the future, and Gale then opened the topic of her relationship with Peeta."

"Oh, I see." I commented.

"It was quite clear that Gale does not approve of the idea of Katniss being in love with Peeta, and he seems to believe that with him being her hunting partner and best friend for years, he should have been her first choice regarding kissing and falling in love with."

"Since when is this a choice?" I could not resist the temptation to throw in.

Prim talked on, ignoring my comment for now:

"Katniss did not elaborate, but Gale got kind of angry, telling her that she needed to stop being close with Peeta. Katniss also got angry, stating something about not allowing Gale to dictate her feelings and behavior. And then, although I could not see it directly, it looked like Gale must have pulled her close and kissed her."

"He did what? He kissed her? And she allowed it? Really?"

"Well, I do not think that she actually allowed it. I did not see it, of course, but there was silence for a few seconds, and suddenly a noise like someone had been slapped. Have you seen Gale today yet?"

"No, I have not" I had to admit.

"I have," Prim added with a smirk showing on her face, "and he looks like somebody slapped his face with quite some force."

"Wait, are you suggesting that Katniss slapped him for kissing her?"

"Yes, that's what I believe happened. You know as well as I do that Katniss would never allow somebody to kiss her without her permission. When Gale did that and surprised her, he probably pulled her in strongly, and as strong as my sister is, Gale is much stronger. Slapping him was probably the only option to make him understand."

"Did he say something after that?"

"Yes he did. He said something like 'I needed to do this at least once' and admitted that he had had feelings for Katniss for quite some time, hoping that she would eventually 'come around' and reciprocate his feelings. I know that Katniss has always been honest with him, telling him that she's never going to marry and will never have kids, but obviously Gale still had hope."

"Oh, I see. With what Gale saw during the games, he must have assumed that Katniss changed her mind."

"Yes, and now Katniss is probably feeling bad about her reaction to Gale." Prim said. "She probably even thinks that she kind of owes him, for all of the years of hunting with her and teaching her."

"Indeed, caught between her relationship to a boy who is totally in love with her and her hunting partner, and herself being unsure about her own feelings."

"Something like that, but I do believe that Katniss loves Gale like a big brother and not more. Rye, this is so confusing, and I do not know what to do!"

"Prim, it is not really your responsibility to do something about it. Your sister needs to find a way to handle that, and she may or may not ask for assistance."

Our conversation was interrupted by Prim suddenly shouting out:

"Rye, what is this over there?"

I checked the direction she was looking, and I soon found what had caught her interest. From the meadow, we have a nice view towards the east, beyond the fence, showing more meadows, forest, and such. The air was very clear today, and an object was visible, slowly moving up in the air across the horizon, many kilometers from us. We could not see a lot of details due to the distance, but it did not look like one of the Capitol hovercraft at all, and it also moved more slowly than a hovercraft usually did. In order to be clearly visible at that distance, the object must have been quite large, probably more than 100 meter in length and thus significantly larger than the hovercraft we had seen so far. It looked like a big long cylindrical hull, tapering off at both ends, with a few smaller parts attached to the bottom, but further details were not visible from the distance. I had never seen anything like that before, and neither had my girlfriend.

"What is this, Rye?"

"I do not not have a clue, Prim. But, do you recall that we talked about potential planets in other solar systems quite some time ago, and about how nice it would be to be able to travel there?"

"Yes, I remember, but why?"

"You know, maybe some people living there thought the same, and now they come to visit us in something like big flying saucers or so..."

"Flying saucers? Are you serious, Rye?"

I was not, of course, but I did not have another explanation either. We made a few more jokes and silly assumptions, but at least for now we decided not to talk about that sighting to anybody.

After a few nice and relaxing weeks, school started again, and Prim was now in 7th grade. Like the years before, I sometimes managed to join her for lunch, and most of the time some of the kids were gathering around us, asking all kinds of questions about Katniss and Peeta. Having not just a single victor from out very own district, but even two had spurred everyone's curiosity, and some hoped to get inside information from us.

When Lizzy joined us as well, I looked at her and noticed, not for the first time, that she had had a growth spurt. By now she was almost one head taller than her best friend and one of the tallest girls in class, whereas Prim still was one of the smallest. Seeing the two of them side by side, one would never guess that they were about the same age.

Lizzy was at least not bothering us with stupid questions. She seemed to be quite happy with her friend now being much more well known than before, and she was happy just to be at her side and them being good friends. Above and beyond that, Lizzy was also quite comfortable with me, and sometimes she asked me for help when she had a question about school or so.

Occasionally, when we were eating, Prim was still sitting on my lap, but this had happened so frequently in the past years that nobody paid attention any longer, except for those kids who were new at school, the first graders.

In Peeta՚s greenhouse, it was astonishing to see what the two girls had achieved in the last few weeks of the summer holidays. Not only had the containers been properly arranged, quite a few of them also had plants in them, and I was told that most of them were medicinal plants and herbs. Peeta had also ordered a selection of vegetables seeds and plants, and those were used in a different section. The large center area was still empty, and we did not know yet what to put there.

Peeta had a plan, though:

"Look, they gave me a catalog to go with the greenhouse, and it shows all of the plants I can order. For most of the plants we already have, we use plants we can find around here, just to enable us to also grow them in winter. What about getting something which does not grow around the district at all?"

The catalog had a number of plants and smaller trees which were highlighted as not being able to survive exposition to negative temperatures, but inside the greenhouse that would not be an issue. Specifically the center part, separated from the smaller side wings by glass walls and doors, was designed to maintain the highest temperatures, and after some discussion Prim, Lizzy, Peeta and I agreed on a number of smaller trees who were part of a group called 'citrus fruits', images were shown for lemons, oranges and clementines, and they were supposed to taste very well. Peeta called in an order for those and a few others he wanted right away, and we were looking forward to the delivery.

Meanwhile, at the bakery my father was very happy to have Philip, our apprentice, around. While he was not particularly good at decorations yet, at least not above and beyond the simpler ones, he was by now quite well acquainted with the basics, and he already could prepare the basic types of dough by himself as well as bake some standard types of bread. Once or twice a week Peeta came over for a few hours and did some of the cake decorations 'just for fun' as he said.

During one of those visits Peeta complained that he was getting a little bit of pressure from his prep team about picking a hobby.

"Can you imagine?" he asked Dad, and Wheat and me when we sat together for a chat in the bakery living room. "They believe that each victor should have a specific hobby to demonstrate to the Capitol, and ideally one that the Capitol can gawk on. Baking does not count, they say, as it is an occupation rather than a hobby. Do they expect me to start knitting now?"

We all laughed for a moment, but I had an idea:

"Brother, what about the sketching and painting?"

"Oh, yes, maybe, but there are some paintings I'd rather not show."

I knew that he ad lost of sketches paintings sporting Katniss, and some of them were indeed not meant to be shown to a larger audience.

"But you don't have to. You can still paint what you want, and the more personal ones you can keep from their prying eyes easily, I should think."

Peeta scratched his head: "You know, that's a good idea. I have actually started to paint again since I came back, and there might even be a few I could show."

"Just be careful about what you give away" our father warned. "They might take the paintings to the Capitol for a special 'victor's sale' or so, and there better not be any critical parts on them, such as showing people outside of the fence, you know."

"Hm, well, I guess I could do that."

"You can also mix in a few scenes they might like to see, like coal miners entering the mines, or diligent peacekeepers patrolling the roads."

The fall season was one of the nicest I had ever experienced in my life so far. Many Seam citizens, who had had to worry about their daily food in the years before, had their needs taken care of at least partially by the monthly deliveries, and the mood in general, both in the Merchants' quarter and the Seam, was slightly merrier than usual. Probably everybody was a little proud of having two victors from our own district.

Prim and I took turns to visit Peeta or Katniss in their luxury homes, although I found it easier to talk to my brother than to Katniss. Prim՚s sister somehow behaved like she had a few skeletons in her closet, and I suspected that she had experienced something I did not know about. Maybe, though, it was just her attempt to cope with the situation, supposedly being madly in love with Peeta, but not having the feelings for it.

At this time I started to realize that life as a victor maybe was not as glorious as I had always assumed. Yes, you did not need to worry about daily issues like food, a warm house, clean clothes and such any longer, but I had an inkling that other, maybe larger problems were piled on a victor. Peeta hinted at something a few times, but never elaborated.

During one of our visits to Katniss Prim and I asked if she was willing to tell us ow she got the highest training score of all tributes at the end of training, and this question actually made her smile:

"Oh, sure, I guess that I can tell now. See, when I was supposed to show off my value to the Gamemakers, they looked quite bored, not expecting anything special from our district. Some of them were already focusing on their next meal, a roasted pig with an apple in its mouth, which was already placed right before them. I got angry and annoyed, and after a practice shot with the bow I hit the apple in the pig's mouth, from quite some distance. I guess that this really impressed them, maybe together with my attitude."

"Was that high training score the main reason for the Careers to consider you their primary target?"

"Well, yes, but I also may have insulted some of them with words during training. I know that was stupid, but they were just so annoying..."

Wheat and Leevy had by now implemented the concept to use her big shed mainly for crafting, and the much smaller bakery shed as a sales hut. We had a few exhibits in the bakery, and when customers asked about them, we just directed them outside across the courtyard, where they could see more. Business was not great at all, but sometimes a few items were actually sold, and there even had been a few orders to craft something, like a piece of furniture, on demand.

Eventually a large delivery was brought to Peeta՚s house in the Victors' Village, and it had the plants he had ordered. Right away he told me about it, and I organized for Prim and Lizzy and myself to be there in the next morning, which was a Saturday. We opened the big central greenhouse door and got ourselves busy getting the saplings inside. Once we had read the instructions, we got them into the ground with proper distance, made sure that plenty of nutritious soil was around them and watered them. When the doors were closed again, the heating was set to recommended values and now we would need to wait.

The greenhouse had a wonderful modern heating system with solar panels and batteries as backup for the times when electricity in the district was out, which happened even in the Victors' Village. It would be nice to have something like that for other houses, too, but that was quite unlikely to happen in our poor district. Once more we mused about all of the wondrous things the Capitol had and did not share with the districts, or at least not with ours.

Over the next days and weeks, Prim and Lizzy frequently stopped by and checked on the growing of the new plants. Of course they knew quite well that this took time, but they checked anyway and just liked to spend time in the greenhouse, also tending the other plants while they were there. In addition, with temperatures outside dropping, spending time in the greenhouse was very comfortable.

While fall progressed, days became cooler, we had some frost during the nights, and leaves turned into vibrant colors and eventually fell down to the ground. Normally that was a time of the year I enjoyed, but I could not fail to notice that the mood in the district changed somewhat. The peacekeepers were more alert, the fence was on more frequently, or so we heard at least through the grapevine, and there were various rumors circulating around in the Justice Building. Even Mayor Undersee did not know or at least did not tell what was going to happen, and I was more than slightly worried.

For the time being, that was all, though, and no significant changes were implemented. However, people got a little more antsy and worried, and there was general concern about something big going to happen, although nobody seemed to know any details.

Prim and I enjoyed the time on our meadow whenever we could, and sitting there on sunny days while watching the yellow, red, and brown leaves falling down in a light breeze while eating a cheese bun or slice of bread with butter was always nice. When we were together like this, we managed not to worry about the changes in the district in general and the relation between Katniss and Peeta in particular.

_[Author's Note: I will get back to the 'unknown flying object' in a later chapter. Feel free to write a quick review if you guess what it could be!_

_The expression 'negative temperatures' is if course related to the Celsius scale, not Fahrenheit or anything else._

_For those of you who like Gale: I promise that he will get a chance to 'behave' much better, and I will try to find him a proper partner for love, too.]_


	33. Chapter 33 - The victory tour

**Chapter 33: The victory tour**

_[Fall/Winter after 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

Winter was coming, not only in an old book about something with fire and ice I had read some time ago, but also in our very own district, for real. In this year this not only implied that we'd prepare for the Christmas holidays, but first our two victors were to embark on their traditional victory tour. This was going to be a very big event, as no victory tour had started from our own district for almost a quarter of a century. A couple of weeks before the tour was due to start, there was an incident, though.

On one sunny and chilly morning, when I walked from the bakery to the Justice Building to start my work day there, a big commotion was visible and audible on the main square, with quite a few spectators being around, and I saw a male person tied to a post for whipping, which had apparently already been started, as his back was already bloody.

A turkey, being nailed to the post above his head, indicated that this was punishment for poaching, and when I looked closer I recognized the person bound to the whipping post as Gale. I was surprised about that, both because Gale was always very careful when carrying contraband from outside the fence, and because the peacekeepers were some of his best customers. The person being in charge was in the Head Peacekeeper's uniform, but somehow he did not look and talk like Cray at all.

While I was still trying to understand what was happening, Darius, one of the nicest peacekeepers we had, stepped forward and blocked his superior's hand, telling him in harsh terms that this was enough. Obviously, this did not go down well, as Darius got hit so hard that he collapsed on the ground. A couple of more lashes were applied, and Katniss suddenly showed up. Before anybody suspected anything, she blocked the next hit of the whip with her body. Not surprisingly, the whip hit her on the left side of her face and on her left arm, making the girl scream.

"Stop it! You are going to kill him!" she shouted.

The Head Peacekeeper who did not look like Cray at all raised the whip again and seemed to be prepared to use it on the girl who dared to interrupt his actions. Just before he was about to release the next strike, a commanding male voice cut in:

"Hold it!"

To my relieve I saw Haymitch approaching, and he would sure know what to do. The peacekeeper may not have recognized Katniss, but Haymitch was known by literally everybody, so that the guy stopped for a moment.

Haymitch made a big show about examining the girl's face and said:

"Great – this will look fantastic on the cameras a week or two from now."

The peacekeeper objected:

"What do I care about cameras and how she looks on them? She interrupted the punishment of a criminal!"

Who was that guy? I had never seen him in the district before, and if we had a new Head Peacekeeper, surely the mayor would have mentioned that?

"So you think that's not your problem how she looks on cameras? Well, I may have to get on the phone to President Snow when I get home, telling him that an ignorant peacekeeper decided to mess up the face of the female victor who will start her victory tour quite soon. How do you think that will come over?"

The big peacekeeper was now clearly thinking; it was likely that he had indeed not recognized Katniss. However, he said:

"That may be correct, but we still have to complete the punishment of that criminal over there!"

Purnia, a female peacekeeper I happened to know, stepped forward and stated respectfully, but boldly:

"Sir, for a first offense I believe that the usual number of lashes have already been applied!"

The new Head Peacekeeper seemed unsure, but once other peacekeepers around nodded and agreed, he admitted:

"Very well then. Get him off here, and make sure to remind him that punishment for the second offense is going to be death."

Peeta had now arrived as well, and Haymitch, Katniss and him got Gale off the post and carried him towards the Everdeen residence, to treat him there, as I assumed, and I noticed that my assistance was not needed. In the Justice Building the mayor waited for me already, and he guided me into his study quickly; he looked confused. Once he had made sure that the door was closed and locked, he asked me:

"Have you seen what happened outside?"

I just nodded, and he told me:

"Let me fill you in on the background. Yesterday evening an unannounced train came in, with a group of new peacekeepers. One of them, a guy called Romulus Thread, showed me some paperwork declaring that he was the new Head Peacekeeper, effective immediately. Cray and a few others were ordered to return back to the Capitol with the same train, and they already left. This morning Gale came over and apparently wanted to trade in a turkey, knowing that Cray dearly loves to eat turkey. However, rather then Cray, Thread came up and arrested Gale right on the spot for poaching."

"Wow, that's bad" I replied.

"Yes it is. Apparently some people in the Capitol believe that we do not pursue the law to the extent we should, and they are trying to change that. Thread is not a good guy, and we should carefully remind everybody to behave."

"I understand, sir."

"Also, we are urged to keep the electricity in the fence on all of the time. The unreliable power supply we have may not actually allow for that, but we need to do our best, even it it implies cutting off power to other areas."

Mayor Undersee knew quite well about the poaching activities which had been going on for years. His daughter Madge had been getting berries, in particular tasty woodland strawberries, from Katniss from time to time, and the peacekeepers buying poached meat from Gale was not a secret at all. It was obvious that the man was not happy about recent developments, but there was nothing he could do. Nominally Mayor Undersee was in charge of the district, but in reality he was not much more than a puppet moving to the directions provide by the Capitol. The longer I worked for him the more I understood his position and his efforts to mitigate some of the directives as much as he could for the benefit of the citizens.

A little less than two weeks after the incident Peeta and Katniss left the district to start their victory tour. On the day of their departure there was some commotion, and I heard later from the mayor that President Snow had visited the district briefly. He had been at Katniss' victor home for an hour or so, and he had had a private chat with the mayor as well. I was not privy to learn what this was about.

For the rest of the morning Katniss and Peeta had to endure the attention of their respective prep teams, and once they were declared more or less presentable, they all left with the train in early afternoon, starting the victory tour.

For those of us who wanted to watch that, quick summaries of the victory tour were broadcast each day. Normally, we did not care much, but this year of course we did, and each evening Prim and I watched what had happened.

District Eleven was the first stop they visited, and a voice announced that most citizens were still busy with the last harvest and thus could not attend the event on the town square. I looked at Prim and said:

"This is odd. Harvest in late November? Really?"

Peeta and Katniss took turns to read from a probably prepared speech, and the camera moved around to show the people from the district watching and listening. Two platforms had been raised for the families of the district's tributes. One of those platforms had only an older woman and a tall, muscular girl, and the narrator introduced them as Thresh's mother and sister; they looked a little bit sad, but seemed to be in control of their emotions. The other platform had two older adults and five kids; this must be Rue's parents and her five younger siblings. One of the girls stuck out, she must be about nine years old, and she looked almost exactly like a younger version of Rue. She and some of her siblings had obviously been crying recently, and seeing Rue's younger sister like that almost got my shedding tears as well.

When Prim saw that, she started to sob and trembled on my lap: "O my God, she so much looks like Rue. I cannot imagine who she must feel to see Katniss, who sung to her sister when she died. I wonder if they are allowed to meet?"

Peeta and Katniss were obviously touched as well. Katniss added a few very personal words, giving thanks to Thresh for not joining the tributes, to Rue for being so nice and kind, and finally for the bread the district had sent her. The reaction was like nobody had expected. Somebody whistled the mockingjay tune that Rue and Katniss had used to communicate with each other in the arena, and a vast majority of the audience suddenly pushed their three middle finger against their lips and then extended them towards her. That was the gesture common in our own district, the one Katniss had also used to say Good Bye to Rue in the arena.

"This is so touching" Prim claimed and she continued to sob a little.

However, right as the two victors were back in the building, Peacekeepers grabbed the old man who had started whistling and quickly executed him right on the square.

We were all in shock, and we did not know what that was for. The narrator did not explain either, and the broadcast for the day ended like that.

When I brought Prim home later on, she trembled, and she was still feeling very uneasy about the broadcast from the other district. To be honest, I was worried as well, and I wish that I understood what had actually happened. What had the old man done except for whistling and signing with his hands, really?

The next days were less exciting. In the district, we learned that Gale had recovered, after spending many days in the care of Mabel Everdeen; he was fit wot work in the mines again. From what we saw during the viewings of the victory tour, each of the speeches Katniss and Peeta did in the other districts seemed to be more 'normal', and it appeared to us that they were strictly reading from a prepared script rather than improvising a few personal sentences like Katniss had obviously done in District Eleven. Anyway, no special events or problems were broadcast at least. Of course, they did not have such close ties to anybody in the other districts, either. Only District Eight seemed to be a little bit off, and some people there looked away when seeing a camera.

One day after the two victors had arrived in the Capitol, there was a general announcement that everybody was 'strongly encouraged' to watch the screens for a special show in the next evening, with special news to be told. Of course we knew that there was going to a special celebration dinner and party, but why would we have to watch all of that? On the next morning I asked Mayor Undersee if he knew what this was about, but he did not, or at least he did or could not tell. He only said:

"I have no clue what they are going to say, but it has been suggested to send the peacekeepers around to strongly encourage everybody to watch. Officially it is not mandatory, but close to it, if you get my meaning."

Indeed, peacekeeper patrols went around during the day and reminded everyone to keep their schedule clear for the evening, and once again, I had Prim on my lap when the broadcast started. Her mother had come to the bakery as well, sitting next to my Dad, when the screen started to show the luxurious hall where the party was taking place. There was some entertainment, a few courses were served, and suddenly President Snow asked for silence. He stepped onto a small stage and started to talk:

"Dear guests, everybody watching from the Capitol and the districts, I am delighted to host this party and banquet today for our two recent victors!"

There was some applause, and then he continued:

"As we all know, Katniss and Peeta have been lovers, at least since the Games, and potentially before. It has turned out that their love even helped them to conquer the Games together. While I am not happy at all about the violation of the rules this triggered, I have heard from many Capitol citizens that they liked the idea of the star-crossed lovers. It is my honor and my pleasure today to announce the star-crossed lovers being engaged, and this is one of the reasons we are celebrating today."

He had to stop now for another round of shouting and applause, and he concluded:

"I will have the pleasure to organize their wedding in the not so distant future here in the Capitol. That's it, and enjoy your food!"

Prim had turned her head around to me and he moth was wide open. She was at a loss about what to say, and Wheat cut in:

"Engaged? Really? Mrs. Everdeen, did you know about that?"

Mabel Everdeen shook her head and replied: "No, not at all – she did not say a word. Somehow I had the feeling that her relation to Peeta was, let's say, not quite there yet. I am as surprised as you are. As a matter of fact, as Katniss is still a minor, she should have consulted me first, I think. I really like Peeta, but I don't like what's going on, and I have a feeling that I am missing something important."

"Maybe the President urged them to speed up their plans?" my father suggested.

We saw more scenes from the big banquet, and when the viewing was over, we got to bed.

A few days later the two victors were scheduled to return home again. The usual 'Harvest Festival', always timed to the Victory Tour, was going to be celebrated on a larger scale this year, with the victors and closest relatives at the Mayor's home and the rest of the district being served in the Justice Building.

We actually had a pretty good time there, and Mayor Undersee was at his best. He assured us that the other citizens out there would also have plenty to eat and drink, and everybody would be happy. Katniss and Madge left once or twice together for a few minutes, but that was entirely normal, although once they were gone for almost twenty minutes. Though Prim was not like that at all, maybe due to her age, I had heard stories about girls going to restrooms together not only for the obvious purpose, but also to chat without male listeners.

Later on during the week, when we had a chance to talk more to Katniss and Peeta, they were somewhat uptight about their engagement. One should have expected them to be excited, happy, thrilled, joyful, whatever, but they were none of that. Also, they did not spend much more time together than they had before, and I really did not understand this.

In December, a blizzard hit the district, which kept most of the citizens at home. We Mellarks needed to keep the bakery running, of course, and at least the ovens kept the house nice and warm. Mabel Everdeen moved in with Katniss for those days, and Prim moved in with me; while she liked the comfort of the victor house, it was just too far away from me.

For a couple of days I did not even have a chance to get to work. We managed to clear the path to the shed and to the pigs, but that's it. Every attempt to get to other houses seemed to be impossible for those days, but that was all right. We played some games, talked, had good food, and waited for the blizzard to subside. On the third day it did, and we went outside again to see what could be done. On the fourth day I managed to get to work again, not without difficulties, and I noticed that the town square was partially cleared already. The Capitol had sent a couple of heavy duty snowploughs, and they were at work now.

Also, I could not avoid seeing some changes. The gallows, which had been temporarily mounted a year ago, were reinstalled, and I noticed a few machine guns on the rooftops, positioned to cover most of the central square. From the direction of the Hob, I had seen fire and dark smoke, and inside my first way was to the mayor.

Mayor Undersee explained:

"There have been some new orders from the Capitol. They seem to be more afraid of rebellion than in earlier times, and the peacekeeper force has been instructed to enforce the law harder than ever. I am afraid that even smaller transgressions will be punished hard now. This is not exactly how I'd like to run the district, but the orders are clear, and I cannot control the peacekeeper force – Thread reports directly to the Capitol. For some reason they even think people might rebel openly in the town square, and thus the machine guns covering that."

"And what about the Hob?"

"Head Peacekeeper Thread was certain that this was a center of subversive talking and rebellion planing, and thus it had to be destroyed. I know that it used to be an important trade hub specifically for Seam residents, but obviously even my pointing out that it provided an important contribution to the well being of the coal miners failed to impress the President and the Capitol; the order to destroy the place came directly from there."

"But is the chance for rebellion actually higher nowadays?"

"It is hard to tell," the mayor replied, "as we do not get many news here from the other districts. However, I have been getting some news about shortages in the Capitol on various items. Recently there were lots of complaints about fancy clothes arriving late or not at all, so that some problems in District Eight are likely. Also, the trains seem to get less and less maintenance and need to stop for repairs more often, so that District Six maybe also has something going on."

Once again, it appeared, the mood for the upcoming Christmas holidays was severely impacted by measures taken by the government, and I wondered if the timing was intentional. During Prim՚s and my next visit to Katniss I made sure that she got the message about the harsher conditions and warned her not to go hunting any longer, and also let Gale know, although he should already have been warned after he had been caught and punished earlier.

For the time being, at least, Prim was not involved much in those rumors and managed to stay mostly happy and unconcerned. I intended to keep it that way; a twelve year old should not have to worry yet about political issues and looming dangers.

With the days getting short and weather turning foul, not much could be done outside, and I had plenty of time to spend with my lovely girlfriend, sometimes eat with her at school, and picking her up when school ended several times. On a few rare sunny days we spent a couple of hours on our meadow, and otherwise we mostly kept at the bakery.

We still kept the habit that she slept with me in my bed from Friday to Saturday and most of the time from Saturday to Sunday, too, and were both always looking forward to those nights. I noticed that my father was sometimes getting a little uneasy about that, and I was well aware that a girl of Prim՚s age was not normally allowed to stay with her boyfriend for the night. However, our situation was different. Not only had we been together for such a long time already, but we also had a marriage contract and I had shared custody of her, too. Dad asked me a few times to be careful, but I assured him that the example of the pregnant girl in the games a few years ago was enough to make both of us respect the limits, even with developing feelings and body reactions. Prim and I were strictly following the rules to keep our hands above the waist; well, feet and lower legs excluded, to be honest – sometimes I gave her a long feet rub – and there was no way I'd risk knocking up my wonderful girlfriend.

Both Prim and Lizzy also continued to work with Mrs. Everdeen to assist her in her work, and the efforts spent in the greenhouse started to pay off, as the supply of medical herbs, which usually started to get tight at this time of the year, could be at least partially replenished from the greenhouse.

Wheat and his girlfriend Leevy did a lot of crafting in Leevy՚s shed, and sometimes they even got special orders from some Merchant to help craft a specific piece of furniture. With the shorter days, though, and the unreliable electricity supply in the district – they needed good light for crafting – they also walked around a lot, mostly in the Seam, and they helped people with repairs on their houses, sometimes together with me.

Thinking about Wheat, I was really surprised. Until about two years ago he had switched 'girlfriends' like some people switch underwear, and I knew that he'd had a number of one night stands at the slag heap. Since he had introduced Leevy to us almost two years ago, the rumors about that had completely stopped, and I actually believed that he had been faithful to her. Even more, I was not even sure if the two of them had had sex together yet. I had had a chance to talk to Leevy՚s parents a few times, when doing house repairs and such, and her parents seemed to strongly believe in keeping sex to marriage, like I did, too. I could not be sure, of course, and they sure had plenty of opportunities if they wanted to, but Wheat did not appears to be pushing her. I had never once seen him touching his girlfriend in an inappropriate way, and the most I had seen so far were tender touches to the outlines of her boobs. He sure had changed, in a positive way, and I was real proud of him, too.

_[Author's Notes: Did you catch the reference to 'A Song of Ice and Fire' at the beginning of the chapter? For those who do not know: The amazing set of books, written by George R. R. Martin, was used as basis to produce the 'Game of Thrones' TV series. From my personal point of view, though, both books and series are somewhat too violent._

_I enjoyed all of the nice reviews and comments I have received on my last few chapters. Many of them are from guest accounts, so that I cannot reply directly, but reading the comments is quite encouraging. For those of you who 'cannot wait for me to finish the story': This will take quite some time – I have already started to work on chapter 40, and the total chapter count is likely to be more than 50; I am not yet sure where I am going to stop eventually, but I hope that I can continue to publish new chapters on a biweekly basis._

_Merry Christmas to all of my readers everywhere in the world! I hope that you are safe and healthy, and I am looking forward to another year of fan fiction.]_


	34. Chapter 34 - Quarter Quell announcement

**Chapter 34: Quarter Quell announcement**

_[Winter/Spring after 74__th__ Hunger Games]_

Christmas was close once more, and the bakery was operated overtime to make sure that we got enough of the Christmas cookies ready in time for the holidays. Philip, the apprentice, helped a lot, and Primrose also made herself useful from time to time, after school and homework, and specifically during the December weekends.

Prim told me that Gale visited Katniss secretly on a more regular basis. She was of course not supposed to know, but Prim probably knew and observed much more than her sister was aware of. Gale seemed to talk to Katniss a lot at the front door of her house, but whispered most of the time so that Prim could not understand what they were saying. Prim asked me when we had time to talk:

"I do not get it, Rye. If Katniss really prefers Gale over Peeta, why did she get engaged to Peeta? How does that make sense?"

"First of all, Prim, we do not know if this is about love. Maybe they are having some secret, like about something outside of the fence, and they need to discuss it. Second, we do not know if that engagement was fully voluntary. Do you recall Katniss hinting earlier about President Snow insisting that the love story between Katniss and Peeta being played out to the full extent? Maybe he considers that important to entertain the Capitol citizens, and maybe he dictates how this is to be done. Katniss and Peeta may not necessarily agree."

"True, Rye," my girlfriend admitted, "I saw my sister's face on the screen when the engagement was announced, and she did not look like a happy bride. She tried to appear smiling, but I could clearly see that it was a forced smile and not a real one. But, can they not just ignore the President? He is there and we are here, so what can he do?"

I was not sure if I should mention that, but I did: "Prim, do you know anything about Haymitch' family?"

"He does not have any family at all."

"Sure, but he used to have some. Did they teach you at school about the time when he was in the Games?"

"Yes, we needed to learn that – he won the 50th Hunger Games, the second quarter quell."

"Indeed, and although the books are not very specific on that, he must have done something to displease the President. A few weeks after he had won, his mother, brother, and girlfriend were suddenly all found dead."

"What?"

"Quite true; Dad told me. The cause of death was not fully clear for all of them, but they all died in the same night in different locations in our district. The message was clear – the President had not liked at all whatever he, Haymitch, had done, and he got punished."

"But, this is..."

My girlfriend looked shocked and was at a loss for words, which was quite a rare situation.

Despite all of the worries, we celebrated the Christmas holidays and tried to be happy. This year, Peeta invited us into his large victor home for December 25th, Christmas Day, but we still started the holidays in the evening of December 24th in the bakery's living room, with some singing, talking, and handing out of presents. Peeta came over to join us, and so did Primrose.

Contrary to past Christmas holidays, Peeta was not quite his usual self again. He tried to look happy, and maybe this deceived those who did not really know him, but at least we in the family could tell the difference, and we knew at least one reason why he wasn't.

There was not really much we could do about Katniss' behavior, and it would be up to Katniss and Peeta to find out in which direction their relationship was going to develop. At least we managed to get both of our families and the Hawthornes together in Peeta՚s home on the 25th of December. I had arrived very early and was in charge of cooking, together with Mabel Everdeen and Hazel Hawthorne. We shoved Peeta out of his own kitchen after breakfast, which he did not really mind. He was brilliant in baking and decorating, but not very good in cooking, and he decided to go for a walk.

Somebody had risked hunting recently, obviously taking advantage of one of the few times when the fence had been off, and we had two geese to prepare. While I took care of those and started to preheat the large oven, Mabel and Hazelle – she now insisted that I call her by first name as well – began working on the sides. We had found a recipe for potato dumplings, and we were also going to prepare a bowl of savoy cabbage and some green salad. The cabbage actually grew in one of the vegetable patches, and the salad had been grown in the greenhouse. We were going to have tomato soup first, and the ladies also prepared some desert. With all of that, we were busy for quite a few hours, and lunch was going to be served at 14:00.

When the two geese were in the oven, I had some time off, and I grabbed Prim to go for a walk outside. The scenery was almost like a winter wonderland. Snow had fallen a few days before, not enough to be a big problem, but enough to cover almost everything under a white blanket.

On our way back we picked up Leevy, Wheat's girlfriend, and Lizzy and her parents, who were also invited for lunch. All together, we were more than a dozen people – four Mellarks, three Everdeens, five Hawthornes, three Andersons, and Leevy. Leevy՚s parents had also been invited, but they had declined as they already had other plans. Even the big dining table in Peeta՚s dining room could not fit all of us, but we just moved another table into the big room and also found a few additional chairs, so that we could all sit together.

Through the big open doors into the living room most of us had a nice view at the Christmas tree, which we had decorated a few days earlier, and we lit the candles on it before starting to eat. We almost felt like being at a big party, but with pleasant company only. Even Katniss seemed to be softening a little, and hopefully she got to enjoy the lunch at least, rather than thinking about her worries all of the time. Peeta sat next to her and served her, and once or twice she even smiled at him and touched his hand.

My father had a short speech before we started to eat:

"My dear family and guests, let us celebrate Christmas today and not think about everything outside in the district for a few hours. I am happy that we can get together like this, and I am particularly happy that both my son and my future daughter-in-law survived the recent Hunger Games and can celebrate with us."

He looked at Mabel Everdeen, who was next to him, took her hand, and continued to speak:

"There is also something else I want to mention. Since this was publicly announced during the Games, you all know that Mabel and I had been close when we were young. She was always my first choice as a partner, and I was sad for quite a long time when she chose the miner over me. However, since I have noticed the two wonderful girls the two of them have raised, I came to accept the situation."

Both Primrose and Katniss blushed a little, and my father talked on:

"As it looks like, both of Mabel's daughters will eventually be my daughters-in-law, which makes me very happy. But in addition, as I got divorced some time ago and Mabel has been a widow for quite a few years now, we slowly started to get closer again. Today we are proud to announce that we are together again, and while we do not know yet where this will lead to, we intend to approach and hopefully master the future together!"

A lot of cheers erupted, and lost of hugs and kisses were exchanged, before everyone calmed down and we could finally start to serve lunch.

In the evening, when Prim slipped into bed next to me, she giggled and told me:

"You know, this is going to be funny when we get all married. Your Dad will be both my father-in-law and my stepfather, my mother will be both your mother-in-law and your stepmother, and your brothers will be both my brothers-in-law and my stepbrothers."

"And Katniss will be both my sister-in-law and my stepsister" I added and smiled back at Prim. "And hopefully we will be one big and happy family!"

Late winter was a hard time specifically for the Seam residents. After Christmas we had shared some of the excess food we had with the poorest families, but we needed to careful with that. Some Seam families still considered that 'charity' and were not going to accept gifts, and the peacekeepers also did not like the concept. I had actually suggested to Mayor Undersee once to set up something like a public food kitchen for the poor, and although this seemed to be a good option, in particular to make sure that the coal miners stayed well fed, he declined, saying that the Capitol would not approve.

The fence was powered most of the time nowadays, and even when it was not, nobody, not even Gale, dared to go out again to hunt. The monthly food shipments we were entitled to got delayed more and more often, and the amount of food being delivered also decreased, explained by general shortages. More and more people were close to starving, and as a result the amount of coal being mined dropped from week to week. According to what I heard, the coal miners' wages, not being high at all to start from, were also cut further. The Everdeen family was not affected this time, of course, as Katniss fed them whenever needed; taking care of closest family was accepted for victors. In addition, Katniss also made sure that the Hawthornes did not have to starve, by getting Mrs. Hawthorne hired by Haymitch as housekeeper.

When I worked with the mayor in the Justice Building, he looked grim most of the time, and while he did not go into details again, I could see that he was quite worried. Of course the situation in the whole country was unclear, but as a good person he worried specifically about the well being of the district's citizens.

We had public whippings in the main square at least once a month, and most of those were for coal miners not meeting their quota or for stealing coal. It was not their fault, of course, as they were not fed properly and had to do something to avoid freezing at home, but that did not bother the peacekeepers. The next monthly food supply arrived mostly spoiled and rotten, and the situation was really getting critical.

At one day in early spring, Prim told me when we met on the meadow for a few hours together:

"Katniss is gone!"

"What do you mean, gone?"

"A big package arrived yesterday, and once she had it unpacked, she got real furious and angry. During the night, she left, and I suspect that she went outside the fence again. She has not returned since."

"Do you know what that package was?"

Prim nodded: "Yes, it's still their in her home, and I had a look, of course. It is her wedding dress."

"Oh, sent by the Capitol?"

"Yes, and that really got her unsettled."

"Because she wanted to pick up a proper dress on her own?"

"Not sure," Prim replied, "but I think that she has not really accepted the upcoming wedding to Peeta. This is such a mess!"

My girlfriend sighed, climbed on my lap, and closed her eyes. I did not know what to say, and thus we just sat silently for some time, our arms wrapped around each other.

Katniss was back a couple of days later, as I heard from Prim, with one of her feet injured, so that this needed to be taken care of by her mother. One week later she had the photo shooting in her wedding dress, with both Prim and her mother attending, and when Prim and I were on our meadow one week later again, she had some news for me:

"Katniss looked really nice in that wedding dress; can you believe it? This is so different from her usual pants and shirts. Oh, by the way, Octavia, Venia, and Flavius, her prep team, talked a lot about various shortages in the Capitol. They complained about lots of their fancy clothes they had ordered were late or not being delivered at all, and Octavia mentioned that she couldn't get shrimps or any other seafood for weeks because of the bad weather in District Four."

"That's odd" I responded. "When I was in my final year at school, we watched a few educational videos on work in other districts. One of them was on District Four, and they showed a few basins where they grow shrimps in what they call 'aquacultures', some of them on the coast, and some others even inland in big basins. At least for the latter, they should be able to harvest even in adverse weather conditions."

"But there's more" Prim added. "I also heard that they could not get new music chips in the last weeks, and they actually may need to clean up data on the chips they have."

"Music chips? That would be District Three, I guess" I replied.

"But, manufacturing of electronic chips does not depend on weather, or does it?" Prim asked.

"No, that's all done indoors, I believe."

"Haymitch came in for some time, too, and I have overheard him mentioning something about trouble in Districts Seven and Eleven. Rye, what is going on?"

"Honey, I do not know. The mayor does not talk about such things, and I do not have any real sources. But I understand better now why the Capitol sent more peacekeepers to our district and enforces rules more strictly."

"But, how is this working? If they wanted to get more coal, wouldn't it be better to feed the miners properly and make them happy rather than starve them and do public whippings even for minor offenses?"

"I fully agree, but obviously President Snow has different ideas."

"Rye, I am really worried."

"So am I, but I am afraid that there is not much we can do."

Based on what Prim had reported, there were some kind of issues in Districts Three, Four, Seven, Eight, and Eleven. What kind of issues there were, I could only guess. There were some rumors about rebellion, but nobody discussed those openly, and of course we did not really know anything.

On the evening of the same day there was a public announcement telling us that there was going to be an important mandatory viewing on the next day, Sunday, and it would include a concept for the upcoming quarter quell.

At the designated time Prim and I joined Peeta in his living room to watch, and the show was run by Caesar Flickerman himself. He introduced Cinna, who had designed the wedding dress, and both of them outlined the process where several candidates for the final wedding dress had been presented to the Capitol citizens, and they had been able to vote and bet.

That part of the show took about one hour, and than President Snow came up. He announced the 75th Hunger Games and 3rd Quarter Quell and spent quite a few minutes repeating why the Hunger Games were justified, in his and the Capitol's opinion, that is. He said:

"For the 25th anniversary, to remind the districts of their choice to initiate violence and have their children die, each district was to elect their tributes and vote on their tributes."

He took a sip of water from a glass and let that settle in, and he continued:

"On the 50th anniversary, as a reminder that two district citizens died for each Capitol citizen during rebellion, twice as many tributes were sent into the arena; two males and two females from each district."

There was another break, and a boy approached the President with a small box in his hands. The President spoke on:

"Now, we are going to learn what the special rules are going to be for the 75th Hunger games and third Quarter Quell."

He turned towards the boy, opened the lid of the box and presented a row of envelopes in there to the cameras. Assuming the each envelope had special rules for a Quarter Quell, the supply might last for five or six centuries into the future, and Prim whimpered:

"When I see that, I can suddenly understand my sister and her claim that she never wants to have children."

I nodded and replied: "Yes, this is really not something to look forward to."

Meanwhile, the president had picked one envelope, opened it, and started to read from it, or at least that's what it looked like:

"And now, as we prepare for the third Quarter Quell to remind us of the violence initiated by the districts 75 years ago and to emphasize the fact that even the strongest rebels cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the special rules state that the male and female tributes are reaped from the existing pool of victors, and there will be no mentors this time."

Prim and I looked at each other and at Peeta, and we were shocked to hear that, of course. Victors were always exempt from further reapings, and this was changed now? Prim got pale and stated:

"Wait a second, how many victors do we actually have in our district? Is there any female except my sister?"

Peeta shook his head: "No, there is not, and for the males, there is only Haymitch and myself."

"So at least you have a 50:50 chance..." I suggested.

"Not really" my brother replied. "I will not have Haymitch go, and of course I will stay with Katniss."

Prim realized what that implied for her sister, and she decided to run over to the Everdeen victor home to comfort her, so that I stayed alone with Peeta. Same as for the last games, he did not look so sad, and I asked:

"So, your relation with Katniss is still not going as you'd like it, right? You are even looking forward to being in the Games again?

He nodded and replied: "Kind of, yes. The Katniss I have seen in the last Games was the most considerate one yet, and all of the time since she has been somewhat distant. Even the upcoming wedding is a farce from her point of view, and we rarely get to spent some time alone. Considering that, being with her in the Games once more does not sound that bad."

"Actually, about the wedding – is that still on now?"

"I have not heard any different. I would not be surprised at all if President Snow decided to get us married just a couple of days before the Games start and makes us have our 'honeymoon' in the arena."

"Wow, that'd be cruel."

"Just like him, isn't it?"

We could not discuss the topic further, as Prim came back and looked excited and worried:

"Katniss is gone again!"

"What do you mean, gone?"

"Mom told me that she ran off as soon as she heard the announcement and knew that she'd be in the games again next time. We assume that she's out in the forest, if the fence is not on."

That was like her, of course. Katniss Everdeen, as I had learned, usually needed to be on her own and far away from others to cope with her own emotions, and I just hoped that she'd be back. Of course, we knew that this was not entirely selfish. Despite knowing that I was there to take care of her sister, Prim was always going to be the little sister she had to be there for, and her mother also needed guidance from her. Prim was of course concerned about her sister, but we'd have to wait and see.

The day was a Friday, and my little girlfriend was quite happy that she could spend the night with me and find comfort in my arms. While Katniss running away was not the first time, knowing that she would have to go into the games again was an unpleasant thought, to put it mildly. Same for me, with knowing that my dear brother would have to compete again, and not only that, they'd have to fight victors from other districts, probably including some of the worst and cruel careers ever seen. I shuddered when I thought about it, and I wondered what an outlook like that would do to further sparkle unrest which might already be happening in some other districts. I also wondered if the special rules for the upcoming Quarter Quell had really been picked randomly or they were specifically selected to impact Katniss and Peeta; probably I would never learn.

During the night, I woke up from Prim moaning next to me. At first I thought that she was having a bad dream, but she she was awake and squirming, and before I got a chance to ask what was wrong she dashed into the bathroom. I was still half asleep and just waited, and my girlfriend only came back after quite some long time; actually, I was asleep again and did not even notice.

When we woke up in the morning I asked her if everything was all right, and she replied candidly and without the slightest hint of embarrassment:

"Oh, I just started my first monthly bleeding."

Not having any sisters, and with a mother who cared more about controlling and sometimes hurting her children rather than providing a proper education, I was slow to understand and asked:

"Monthly bleeding? Where? What are you talking about?"

"You know, silly, a girl's moon cycle, coming with the transition from girl to woman."

Now I got it, and I blushed a little; of course she had to call me 'silly' again. Prim noticed that and laughed:

"No reason to get embarrassed, my love. Although some women do not like to talk about it, that is perfectly normal, and I do not have any issue talking about it – with you, at least."

"I heard you moaning; was it painful?"

"Kind of, yes; somewhat like a stomach ache. Also, it feels real odd to be bleeding down there. I guess that is what we girls have to go through, but fortunately Mom knows how to mediate the effects. I will run over to her after breakfast and get some proper herbs. Oh, and I am afraid I got some blood on the sheets – I did not know that this was coming today."

"Blood stains on the sheets is the least of my worries – I care about you!"

Prim hugged me and smiled: "I am all right, being with you. But, you will have to accept this as a kind of regular event in future, and I have been told that quite a few girls and women are acting strangely during those few days each month."

"Hey, we will go through this together, like through everything else, right?"

"Of course we will, my love! And when you notice that my behavior is somewhat off, just give me a tight and long hug and a few kisses, and maybe a cookie or two, and this will make me feel much better."

A couple of days later Katniss was around again. It turned out that she had not left to the woods, as the fence had been on, but had hidden in Haymitch՚s house, and she may or may not have shared a few bottles of liquor with him.

Over the next weeks, we found Katniss and Peeta to spend an awful lot of time with Haymitch, but they did not really tell what they were doing. However, when I was spending time again with my girlfriend on our meadow, we talked about that, and I mused:

"I wonder what they are doing together all of the time. I hope that it's not just drinking."

"No, it is not" Prim replied. "I assume Peeta can be very secretive when he wants to, but my sister cannot really hide secrets from me."

"Yes, I know, when you start pouting and go into 'little sister mode', she cannot resist you."

"Neither can you, by the way, most of the time at least. But not only that, but I have known her for all of my life, and she is a real bad liar. So, I do not know everything, but I do know that they are training together."

"Wow, that actually makes sense. And because training for the games is not allowed, except for the Career districts, they need to be hiding when doing that."

"Exactly."

Prim՚s 13th birthday was around the corner, and she was to become a teenager. I started to think about a proper present for her. I spoke to Mrs. Everdeen about that, and she suggested:

"Ryan, Prim is growing, not as much as some other girls, but enough to ensure that her summer clothes from last years are getting too tight and too small. You could get some clothes for her, if you want."

"Thank you, Mabel, this is a great idea."

Mrs. Everdeen gave me some information on sizes, and a few days later I found myself in the tailor's shop, browsing the selection of girls' clothes. I felt a little lost, but Mrs. Brown, the shop owner, soon approached me, and once I had told her what I was looking for, including the sizes, she guided me to the shelves where they had clothes for girls in Prim՚s age. I knew that Prim liked to wear skirts and I picked a few of them, not too short, as she should be able to wear them to school, adding a few shirts and blouses. I also did not forget to buy a couple of robust pants for gardening work, including overalls with many pockets. When I saw the shelve with underwear, I hesitated, and I realized that I did not really know what kind of panties she preferred and which were most comfortable for her; thus, I decided to skip those. Similar with the bras; Prim՚s boobs were still very small, and as far as I knew, she did not wear a bra most of the time, but I got a few tank tops which I thought might look nice on her.

I'd be quite willing to get back here together with Prim if she wanted, to give her a choice, but I was not entirely sure that she'd want to select underwear together with me; on the other hand, she probably would. Anyway, I was quite happy that I was able to find a nice selection of clothes for my girlfriend, and thanks to my good job with the mayor, I easily had enough money to pay for that.

On Prim՚s birthday I had taken a day off, so that I could pick her up from school. Naturally, I had a cake for her, with decorations done by Peeta, and the cake was already waiting for her at the Everdeen home. As usual, the Hawthorne family came over, minus Gale, who was working, and the person who looked most happy about the cake was little Posy. She danced around the table and could not stop looking at the wonderful decorations from all angles.

Rain was pouring down outside, so that there was no chance for us to go for a walk or spend time on the meadow. Rather, we stayed indoors, although the room was kind of crowded, but with Prim being on my lap and Posy being on her brother's lap, we managed and enjoyed the little party and celebration.

When Prim unpacked all of the clothes I had bought for her, almost everybody around was in awe, and Posy had her mouth open. I had noticed before that Posy also started to like 'working' with plants, and Primrose had taken her to Peeta՚s greenhouse a few times already. I had, on a whim, also purchased a set of overalls for Posy, and I now handed this over. She almost could not believe that she also got something, but she was a four year old and did not hesitate to accept the gift. Her mother told me:

"Ryan, it is really sweet of you to also have a gift for Posy. A few years ago I would have probably not allowed her to accept it, but knowing you as I do now, that's all right. You have a good heart."

Just before dusk, the rain stopped, and we used the opportunity to step outside and observe the setting sun. It was visible through a gap in the clouds, and seeing the clouds illuminated and partially turning red was quite a sight. Hazelle Hawthorne sighed and said:

"It really is a hard life here in our district. But, views like this one remind me that it is our home, and it can be beautiful at times."

_[Author's Notes: I realize that girls in real life would not normally talk about their first period that easily with a male person, potential boyfriend included, but this is Primrose, a healer's daughter, and above and beyond that, she and Rye share practically everything.]_


End file.
